Survivor: Central Hub 2
by SSBFreak
Summary: Eighteen new fancharacters from different franchises go against each other in a game of survival. Who will be votedout and who will be the sole survivor?
1. Day 0

**(Day 0)**

The scene opened as a camera helicopter did some fly-bys of a large remote island. The island was covered with beaches and trees, and there were a couple of smaller island just off the coast of one of the sides. A small country was seen off in the distance, showing that the island still wasn't far away from civilization. After a few fly-bys, the scene switched to show a tall, blonde man walking along a beach.

"Welcome to season two of Survivor: Central Hub. I'm your host, SSBFreak." The man explained. "Over the next thirty-nine days, we'll be focusing on the eighteen castaways in this competition of both brains and brawn. These eighteen contestants, each from an existing franchise, will compete against each other on two teams of nine, where the last one standing will win one million dollars."

SSBFreak approached a dock, where a cruise ship was coming in. "However, along the way, there will be challenges where the losing team will be forced to eliminate one of their own at Tribal Council." He explained. "We have a lot of variety in our contestants, so let's get to know them a little bit."

The first contestant came walking down the dock confidently. She was a human girl wearing a green beret on her head and shoulder-length, brown hair.

**CHARLOTTE – 23 – STREET FIGHTER**

"Welcome to Survivor, Charlotte." SSBFreak greeted.

"It is good to be here, comrade." Charlotte said with a slight German accent. "I'm looking forward to the competition."

"You're from Street Fighter, so I hope that means you can take care of yourself." SSBFreak said.

"Don't underestimate me so early, comrade." Charlotte warned with a smirk as she walked by the host to stand at the edge of the dock to wait for the others. "You won't like it when you underestimate me."

The next contestant came marching down the dock. He was tall with dark hair (complete with a full beard) and was wearing a black shirt with a gray vest.

**MASON – 27 – GEARS OF WAR**

"Judging by where you come from, you've probably got some survival skills under your belt." SSBFreak said. "Right, Mason?"

Mason gave a laugh. "You got that right! I'm the king of survival!" He announced proudly. "The Locust run in fear when I approach!"

SSBFreak lifted an eyebrow. "Uh…Sure. Why don't you go stand over there while I welcome the rest?" He asked.

Mason shrugged and went over to stand beside Charlotte. He smirked at her. "Don't worry, dollface. If you need any help surviving out here, I've got your back." He said, placing a hand on Charlotte's shoulder.

"Kindly remove the hand." Charlotte said without looking at Mason. He was quick to grant her wish.

The next contestant came strolling down the dock, wearing a black pirate hat (complete with eyepatch). He had a long mustache that drooped down by his chin.

**SHAMUS – 44 – PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN**

"You're a pirate, so I'm expecting some sneaky moves to come from you, Shamus." SSBFreak said.

"Ye won't be disappointed, lad." Shamus said with a smirk. "I think I can prove to be crafty."

"So which pirate captain did you get your skills from?" SSBFreak asked. "Jack Sparrow?"

"Barbossa, actually." Shamus replied as he walked over to Charlotte and Mason. Mason looked at his eyepatch and curiously tried to lift it. His hand was promptly swatted away.

The loud footsteps of the next contestant made the others watch her approach. What they saw was a dark green rhino with brown hair.

**URTHA – 22 – ANIMAL CROSSING**

"Urtha, you're one of our strongest contestants this season." SSBFreak said. "You think you can pull ahead of the others?"

"I have confidence in my abilities." Urtha said with a smirk. "Plus I have some added incentive to win."

"What's that?"

"Tom Nook is a crook and wants me to pay off my high mortgage." Urtha rolled her eyes. "I need the money."

As Urtha went over to join the other contestants (Shamus was looking at her oddly, considering that he had never seen an anthro before), the next contestant arrived. What they saw was a koopa wearing a red long-sleeve shirt coming down the dock, wearing shades.

**JACK – UNKNOWN – SUPER MARIO WORLD**

"Jack, you're the best friend of last season's winner." SSBFreak said. "You think you can build on Marty's success?"

"Hey, when Marty ended up winning, I knew I had to try this competition for myself." Jack replied. "Heck, if he can do it, I've got a good chance."

"Has Marty been able to buy off Bowser yet?"

"We're still working on it." Jack replied as he walked over to the others.

"Hey! You're the best friend of the last winner?!" Mason asked. "You shouldn't even be here!"

Jack was instantly in Mason's face. "You wanna say that again?" He challenged.

Mason shrank back, despite being a foot taller than the koopa. Charlotte and Shamus gave Jack approving smirks.

The next contestant came walking down the dock, revealing a short creature with long, brown hair and pointed ears. From the looks of things, she was a little older.

**RUTH – 53 – DRAWN TO LIFE**

"This is Ruth. And for those that don't know, she's a Raposa." SSBFreak explained. "How are things, Ruth?"

Ruth gave a chuckle. "Things are going fine in the village. I just felt that I needed a little excitement." She explained.

"You're our oldest contestant this season. You think that can hurt you?"

"Only time will tell. I just need to play a good game." Ruth said as she walked over to join the other contestants. Charlotte and Urtha were quick to greet her and even Jack gave her a handshake.

The next contestant arrived by this point. A light-green kremling came marching down the dock, clad in only a black vest, ready to start the contest.

**KRASH – UNKNOWN – DONKEY KONG COUNTRY**

"Welcome, Krash." SSBFreak greeted. "You think you can do well on your own instead of listening to K. Rool's orders for once?"

"I think I can do well enough on my own." Krash gave a toothy smirk. "I passed the Kremling Training Test faster than anyone else when I first joined K. Rool."

As Krash prepared to walk off to join the others, SSBFreak paused. "Training Test? Isn't that a multiple choice test with two possible answers?" He asked.

"I know. It was hard." Krash nodded as he walked past the host. "Half of the students were unable to pass the test."

All of the gathered contestants did a collective facepalm.

Coming down the dock was the next contestant. What the others saw that she was a cavegirl with red-orange hair. The only thing she was wearing was an animal-skin top and shorts.

**JANINE – 25 – JOE & MAC**

"Before we start, I have to ask." SSBFreak said. "How'd you get to this time period, Janine? Joe & Mac takes place in prehistoric times."

"There are some things you'll never know, bub." Janine said with a smirk.

"Well, do you think you can do well here?"

"I know I can." Janine nodded as she made her way over to join the others.

Mason was instantly in her face. "Just say the word whenever you need help, baby!" He said. "I'm an expert on surviving out here!"

Janine silently grabbed Mason by the front of his shirt and held the larger man off the ground with one hand, the other hand on her hip. "Do I look like I need help?" She asked.

"N-No, ma'am." Mason squeaked.

"Good boy." Janine said as she dropped Mason and joined the others.

As Mason got up and dusted himself off, the next contestant arrived. What the others saw was that he was a normal-looking monkey with a pair of blue pants and a blue beacon helmet on his head.

**BUZZ – UNKNOWN – APE ESCAPE**

"I hear that you're a strong chimp, Buzz." SSBFreak said. "Can you deliver? From the looks of things, you're pretty short."

"That doesn't change a thing, pal." Buzz replied sharply. "You know for a fact that Pink Monkey is the strongest member of her team because of her psychotic state."

SSBFreak paused, then shrugged. "Okay. You've got a point." He admitted. "I hope you don't disappoint."

"I don't intend to." Buzz explained as he walked over to the others. The others looked at him, then at each other, wondering if he was telling the truth about his strength.

What the others saw next was an unusual sight indeed. What they saw was a walking crash test dummy wearing what looked like a red suit.

**OILER – UNKNOWN – INCREDIBLE CRASH DUMMIES**

"Oiler, you're probably one of the most obscure contestants this season." SSBFreak explained. "You think you have what it takes to win?"

"The possibilities are there." Oiler nodded as he ripped his own arm off (much to the horror and disgust of the others) and scratched a hard-to-reach area of his back with it before sticking it back into its socket. "I'm looking forward to starting. When do we begin?"

SSBFreak looked a little weirded out himself. "Uh…When all of the contestants arrive." He explained. "You go and wait with the others while I welcome the next contestant."

Oiler scratched his head and gave a shrug as he wandered over to stand with the others (whom looked at him with amazement).

By now, the next person was walking down the dock. The others saw her strange hair and watched as it bobbed up and down as she walked.

**LYNN – 22 – DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION**

"Lynn, you've got more energy than most of our contestants this season." SSBFreak said. "Can you work that to your advantage?"

"You know it, man!" Lynn nodded. "I don't know who my team is, but I've got a lot of energy to help them!"

"Good to hear, Lynn. I'll set you guys into teams when everyone arrives." The host explained. "Go over there and wait for now."

Lynn gave Urtha, Jack and Krash high-fives. When she gave one to Oiler, she knocked his hand off. "Dude! That's totally wicked!" Lynn shouted in excitement.

Almost in contrast to the high-energy Lynn, the next contestant made her way down the dock in a laid-back stroll. The beige cowboy hat resting on her head covered her eyes.

**VIKKI – 26 – SUNSET RIDERS**

"Vikki, you're a long ways away from the Old West." SSBFreak explained. "Can you overcome that and do well here."

"Just because little ol' me's away from home doesn't mean that I'm helpless." Vikki smirked, lifting the brim of her hat. "I've got a few surprises up my sleeves."

"You think that you'll be underestimated?" SSBFreak asked.

"Little ol' me can out-drink all four of the heroes of Sunset Riders at once." Vikki said as she strolled past the host. "I don't GET underestimated."

As Vikki joined the rest of the castaways, the next contestant arrived. The contestants watched as a small, pink creature with a long nose and blonde hair came walking down the dock, looking cheerful.

**MOLLY – UNKNOWN – BANJO-KAZOOIE**

"This is Molly, and before anyone asks, she's a Jinjo." SSBFreak explained. "Molly, I know that Jinjos naturally have magical powers, so I don't want to see any of that during the game."

Molly giggled. "Don't worry. I'm not going to be doing any of that." She assured.

"Just making sure." SSBFreak nodded. "Okay. Just go over there and wait for everyone else to arrive."

Molly walked over to the others and waved cheerily. Most of the other castaways waved back, but Shamus looked a little suspicious. No one else noticed.

The contestants watched as the next contestant made his way down the dock. Adjusting his glasses, the dark-haired, lanky man approached the host with a hopeful grin on his face.

**NELSON – 25 – GHOSTBUSTERS**

"How goes the ghost-busting, Nelson?" SSBFreak asked.

"Couldn't be better." Nelson replied. "I feel like I'm fitting in with the other guys over at the firehouse."

"I know that you don't have your equipment here, but I assure you that the island is ghost-free." SSBFreak half-joked.

Nelson whipped a ghost-detecting PKE Meter from his pocket. "You can't be too careful." He said as he walked past the host to join the others.

Nelson waved the PKE Meter around the other contestants suspiciously, not getting a reading from anyone. He waved it in front of the weirded-out Jack's face for a few seconds.

As Nelson was inspecting the others, they almost didn't see the next contestant making his way down the dock. They quickly saw that he was a yellow-skinned being that didn't exactly look human…

**BRICK – UNKNOWN – LEGO ISLAND**

"Considering that you come from a place where you have to build everything, you should feel right at home, Brick." SSBFreak explained.

"Oh, heck yeah." Brick nodded with a grin. "Living here's going to be a walk in the park for me."

"Hopefully, you'll do well in the challenges as well."

"I intend to, man." Brick said as he made his way over to the others, most of which stared at him strangely. Nelson waved the PKE Meter around him, wondering why he wasn't getting a signal.

The next contestant slowly walked down the dock nervously, fearfully looking around. Her blonde hair went past her shoulders and there were a couple of rips in her jeans, but most were wondering why she looked so nervous to begin with.

**ANITA – 19 – CHZO MYTHOS**

SSBFreak sighed when he saw how scared the teenage girl looked. "Anita, I know why you're scared." He explained. "You don't need to worry about anything."

"I-I know…" Anita nodded. "B-But…Y-You never know…"

"Well, we're almost done here. You go over and wait for the last two contestants to arrive."

Buzz scratched his head as Anita came over. "Why'd she even sign up for this is she's so nervous?" He asked.

"Be nice." Ruth scolded.

Anita stood in line, eyes darting constantly and occasionally taking a glance over her shoulder, as if looking for something.

The next contestant came walking down the dock, revealing himself to be a gray mouse with a red cap in between his large ears.

**ROSCOE – UNKNOWN – ROCKY RODENT**

"You think you can manage here, Roscoe?" SSBFreak asked. "I mean, you're probably already painted as a-"

"Just because I'm a mouse from that world doesn't mean I work for the mob boss, mac." Roscoe said quickly (almost too-quickly for some people's liking). "I ain't in the mob."

SSBFreak held up his hands in defense. "Okay. Okay. I get it." He said, chuckling nervously. "Just…Go over there until the last contestant arrives."

Roscoe nodded and walked over to the other contestants. Jack glanced at him and formed a smirk, unaware that Roscoe was doing the same to him.

The last contestant marched down the dock happily. Everyone looked curiously when they saw that she not only had blue hair, but a complete blue outfit as well.

**GINNY – 21 – EARTHBOUND**

"Ginny, you're a member of that weird cult from Earthbound, so-" SSBFreak said before the contestant cut him off.

"The Blue Blue Cult is not weird! Blue is the only way to go!" Ginny replied. "You'll all see! You'll all love the colour when we paint your houses and everything around them blue!"

"Why does she remind me of someone from last season?" Oiler asked.

"I'm not getting any PKE energy from her, either." Nelson noted. "Is this thing broken?"

SSBFreak stared dumfounded at Ginny. "Uh…Sure. Look, just go over there." He said. After Ginny joined the others, SSBFreak did a quick head count. "Okay. That's all eighteen contestants. We're just about ready to start. If you'll all follow me, I'll split you into teams." He explained.

The eighteen castaways followed SSBFreak onto the beach. A short walk later and SSBFreak had led the group to two mats sitting on the sand. One was blue and the other was orange.

"When I call your name, would you go over and stand on the mat I direct you to." SSBFreak explained. "That will be your team until the merge, where the teams will be dissolve into one."

Ginny crossed her fingers in hope as everyone else nodded.

"Okay, on the blue team will be…" SSBFreak said as he looked at the contestants. "…Brick…Molly…Roscoe…Nelson…Jack…Shamus…Urtha…Mason…And Ginny. You guys will-"

_**"Blueblueblueblueblueblue!!!"**_ Ginny squealed in glee as she raced past the host and over to her mat well before the others on her team.

"Uh…You guys will be the Opito Tribe." SSBFreak announced.

The members of the newly-formed Opito Tribe looked at each other, sizing each other up. While a couple of people gave others suspicious looks, the overall look was pleasant.

"That leaves the rest of the contestants to form on the orange mat." SSBFreak said. "…Oiler…Vikki…Anita…Janine…Ruth…Lynn…Buzz…Charlotte…And Krash. You guys will be the Eleda Tribe."

"Looks like a good crew." Janine nodded. "We'll see where it takes us."

"Here are the maps that will take you guys to your respective tribal grounds. As of now, you're all on your own." SSBFreak said as he tossed the two tribes some maps. Shamus and Charlotte caught them. "I'll send you some treemail eventually with the information on your first challenge. All I can say is good luck to you all, because you'll need it.

The two tribes split off, going in opposite directions to their campsites, marking the start of the competition for the second time.


	2. Days 1 to 3

**(Opito Tribe; Day 1)**

"Looks like this is it." Shamus announced as he led the Opito Tribe to the camp with the map he had.

The Opito Tribe had a fair amount of beach area and trees, but what caught the majority of the tribe'ds eyes the most was the fact that there were a couple of smaller islands just off the shoreline. There was a weak-looking bridge connecting the shore to the larger of the two islands, but the smaller island was off on its own.

"Not too shabby." Brick said as he looked around. "This is great!"

"So what do we do, first?' Nelson asked, adjusting his glasses.

"We need to build a shelter. We need to get it up so we'll have something to sleep under tonight." Urtha explained as she turned to Mason. "You wanna make yourself useful, survivorman? Come on and help me grab some lumber for the shelter."

"Hey, no sweat!" Mason nodded, rolling up his sleeves. "I'm used to heavy lifting!"

"_I had to take charge in getting the shelter built. Looking at the rest of my tribe, Mason and I are probably the only ones that have any experience building things." Urtha explained. "And who do you think would be able to build a better shelter? Me or him?"_

"What should we do?" Jack asked. "We probably won't be able to make a decent shelter with just wood."

"Find some big leaves to act as a roof." Urtha called back as she and Mason walked towards the jungle. "We'll need something to protect us from rain."

"Are we really going to let just the two of them carry all of the lumber?" Nelson asked.

"What else can we do?" Molly asked with a shrug. "They're the strongest ones here."

"I'll go help them." Shamus said as he followed Urtha and Mason.

"_I know I'm not ripped like that Mason guy is, but I'm still strong" Shamus rolled his good eye. "I'm one of Barbossa's best deckhands! Sometimes, I'm the only one out there holding the mast in place! I just hope that my tribe doesn't see me as a liability just because I'm not as strong as the others."_

"Well, we may as well get started." Brick shrugged. "Those leaves aren't gonna collect themselves."

"Can we use blue leaves?" Ginny asked.

The rest of the tribe stared at the blue-haired woman strangely. "There AREN'T any blue leaves here." Jack replied.

"Aw, man. Seriously?" Ginny pouted. "I was really hoping I'd be able to sleep under something blue…"

Jack and Roscoe quickly grabbed Ginny and hauled her into the jungle, following the rest of the tribe.

"_Now I know how Marty felt having to deal with that crazy woman. Ginny's got a few screws loose, but I guess that's to be expected considering what group she's a part of." Jack sighed. "The crazy girl we have doesn't seem as bad as the last one did, but her obsession with blue is going to be her undoing."_

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 1)**

"Is this the place, partner?" Vikki asked as the Eleda Tribe came upon an empty campsite.

Charlotte inspected the map in her hands and smirked. "This is the place, alright." She said as she folded up her map. "This is our home for the next month."

The Eleda Tribe looked similar to the Opito Tribe, although it didn't have the floating islands attached to it. To make up for it, the Eleda Tribe had much more beach area, as the shore was in the shape of an inward-sloping horseshoe.

"_Our tribe is sick! I love it here! There's so much beach and everything!" Lynn cheered. "I know that, by the end of the competition, I'll be sick of the camp, so I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can while we're out here."_

"I guess the first thing to do is build a shelter." Ruth scratched her head. "It doesn't look like we were given one."

"Then let's get a shelter built and not waste any time." Buzz announced. "Okay. Janine, you're strong, right?"

"Yeah. I take it you want me to carry lumber." The cavegirl checked.

"I need help in moving the lumber, so all the strong people come and give me a hand." Buzz ordered. "Krash, Charlotte and Oiler, that means you guys too."

"Uh…I don't know if I'm capable of lifting something like lumber." Oiler said.

"What are you talking about?! Look at you! You look stronger than half the tribe!" Buzz said. "Now come on and help us move this lumber."

"_Oiler needs to get his head in the game if he wants to go far." Buzz pointed out, arms folded. "Looking at his stature and build, I knew right off the bat that he's a lot stronger than some of the others on my tribe. If he thinks trying to hide strength will help him, he'll end up getting booted early on."_

As Buzz all but dragged Oiler away, Charlotte, Janine and Krash followed behind. This left everyone else standing around for the time being.

"Um…What should we do?" Anita asked.

Ruth sighed. "Some of you guys go and find some leaves. The others can find some stones." She replied. "We need a fire pit almost as much as a shelter."

"That's right!" Lynn agreed. "I call finding some stones!"

"_Buzz only really paid attention to getting lumber, and I knew that we were going to need more." Ruth explained. "Thankfully, I have some experience with camping, so building a fire pit seemed obvious to me. After all, if we're going to be here a month, we're going to need a fire pit."_

With that, the rest of the Eleda Tribe dispersed.

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_We had our shelter done in no time! After we got enough leaves for the roof, a few of us started to build a fire pit." Brick said. "Heck, we had time to kill, so we figured that we'd do something useful while the shelter was being built by the strong people."_

Shamus looked at Urtha as the two of them tied a few pieces of lumber together. "Don't you think we could use some more help?" He asked. "I mean, there's just three of us building the shelter."

"What are you talking about? Jack and Roscoe are helping us build." Urtha said.

"They are?" Shamus asked as he looked around. "Where?"

Shamus eventually looked behind the shelter and found both Jack and Roscoe sitting against the completed back wall of the shelter, sound asleep. The one-eyed pirate grabbed a coconut from a tree and ricocheted it off their heads, quickly waking them up.

"_What's that guy's problem?! We were helping! It's just that we dozed off for a second…" Roscoe said, removing his cap and rubbing his head painfully. "But man, that shelter took a little bit to build. I was glad once it was all said and done, but I bet everyone was."_

Molly watched as Mason put up a few pieces of lumber, completing a wall that had been started. "Wow! You're real strong, Mason!" She pointed out.

Mason smirked. "It's all part of being a soldier." He replied. "When you do nothing but fight Locust day in and day out, you tend to get stronger."

"Sounds like you've got a hard life."

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" Mason asked. "That's gotta count for something."

As Mason returned to his work, Molly flashed a grin, but not the cheery grin that she'd been showing the others so far. This one was sinister…

_Molly sat on a rock, filing her nails with a piece of tree bark. "These morons are so easy to fool. You see, I'm not a Jinjo. I'm a Minjo." Molly said with a grin. "The two species look exactly the same, but Minjos are pure evil. Since being nice usually does well in a game like this, all I gotta do is act like some wussy goody two-shoes for a month. It'll be painful, but worth it in the end."_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_I kept telling Buzz that I wasn't fit to lift lumber, but he just wouldn't listen and dragged me along anyway." Oiler sighed. "When we reached the pile of lumber that had been given to us, he thought it would be a great idea to let me pick the first piece."_

"Okay. Let's see how much you can carry." Buzz said as he, Oiler, Charlotte, Janine and Krash arrived at the pile of lumber.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Oiler warned.

"Look, you're helping us carry this stuff and that's final." Buzz snapped. "Now pick up some lumber!"

Oiler sighed and grabbed a piece of lumber. However, when he stood up again, Oiler's arms were still on the ground, grabbing the lumber piece.

"Satisfied?" The now-armless Oiler asked.

Charlotte blinked. "Oiler can help find leaves." She suggested.

Buzz sighed. "Okay. I guess you've made your point." He admitted as he handed Oiler his arms.

"_I'm definitely not the only one that gets creeped out whenever Oiler loses a limb." Krash explained. "I mean, we all know it doesn't hurt and he's able to fix it in a couple of seconds, but can you blame us?! His arms just popped off! How would you react?!"_

Meanwhile, Ruth was huddled over a circle of rocks that were being brought to her. As she was working, Vikki came over and placed another rock by the pile.

"Is that good, Ruth?" Vikki asked.

Ruth looked at the rock and nodded. "That'll do nicely, dear." She replied.

Vikki looked around to make sure no one was looking and turned to Ruth again. "What do ya make of the others so far?" She asked.

Ruth paused, then shook her head. "It's too early to judge people, Vikki." She said. "That being said, there are a couple of people here that I may not get along with if things don't change."

"_I know it's too early to judge, but can ya blame me? Where I come from, a lot of the discussion that happens is through a gun." Vikki explained. "I know Ruth means well, but I think she's playing things a little too safe here."_

After both shelters had been built, the two tribes were sound asleep in preparation for the following day on the island.

**(Opito Tribe; Day 2)**

Jack emerged from the shelter, having just woken up. He saw Roscoe sitting by the freshly-built fire pit and smirked as he walked over.

"_Marty managed to win this game. That tells me that Survivor isn't impossible." Jack explained. "However, what sets me apart from Marty is that I'm a lot more strategic than he is. The first thing I want to do is get into an alliance with someone expendable, and I just so happened to see him when I woke up."_

"Hey, Roscoe. Can we talk for a bit?" Jack asked as he came over.

"Huh? Oh, sure thing, mac." Roscoe nodded as Jack sat down on one of the logs around the fire pit. Roscoe seemed to look at Jack suspiciously for a moment.

"Look, I know what you're thinking. I'm not like the others. I don't actually think you're part of some mob." Jack said. "You look way too smart for that."

Roscoe paused, then shrugged. "Good to see that someone sees things my way." He replied. "What would you like?"

"I'd like to propose an alliance." Jack explained. "Look, I think it's clear that we're not the strongest people on this tribe."

"Yeah. Urtha and Mason far outclass us in that department."

"So I think we should stick together and try to slip past the others so we can get to the merge." Jack said. "Once the merge hits, we can take out the physical threats and fly under everyone's radar."

A smirk floated across Roscoe's face. "I like what I hear. Okay, you've got a deal." He nodded.

"_You know what? This works out. Now that I have an alliance member, I'll have a free vote." Roscoe admitted. "And the best part is that he thinks I'd actually take him to the end. Once the merge hits, I'd be able to strategically take Jack out of the game without making it look like I did it."_

"_Okay. I've got a free vote solidified. Now all I need to do is think of a way I can eliminate Roscoe safely when the merge hits." Jack reasoned. "As long as he's on the jury and he doesn't know, I'll have an automatic vote at the end to win the cash prize."_

Jack and Roscoe suddenly heard some noises behind them. They turned around and their eyes suddenly widened when they saw Ginny yawning as she exited the hut. However, what caught their eyes the most was the fact that all of the leaves on the shelter were painted blue. Ginny saw the two and waved cheerily.

"_Luckily, I brought a bit of my patented blue powder with me." Ginny said, holding up a pouch. "All I needed to do was spread it over the leaves a bit and turned that horrible green colour into a vibrant blue. Now we've got the perfect shelter!"_

Jack and Roscoe watched as Ginny skipped down to the ocean and jumped in. They looked at each other, then back up at the shelter's painted roof.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 2)**

Janine emerged from the shelter and scratched the back of her head. Not bothering to fix her messed-up hair, Janine started walking down to the ocean when she suddenly did a double-take at something that caught her eye. The cavewoman saw Anita curled up at the foot of a tree, a good ways away from the shelter altogether.

"_So I wake up and was walking down to the beach to splash some water on my face when I suddenly see Anita sleeping far away from the shelter." Janine explained. "That just baffled me. Why would she want to sleep outside, let alone that far away from the rest of us?"_

Janine continued down to the beach, where she saw Krash and Charlotte talking. "Did you guys notice that Anita was sleeping outside the shelter?" She asked.

"Yeah, I did." Krash nodded. "I was wondering what was bothering her. It kinda hurt my head a little bit…"

"We're going to have to ask her when she wakes up." Charlotte added. "It didn't look like she was sleeping that well, though."

"Really? She looked fine to me." Janine added.

"When I passed her, it looked like she was-"

Suddenly, a shrill scream of pure terror ripped through the campgrounds. Needless to say, no one was expecting it.

"_Whoever that was, they could sure scream! I bet that the other team probably heard it!" Charlotte said. "The only thing we could think of when we ran over was who could have possibly made such a noise."_

The entire Eleda Tribe was soon gathered around the screamer. Anita sat at the base of the tree she slept under, knees to her chest and head in her hands in a sobbing wreck.

Ruth was instantly over to Anita's side. "Dear, what on earth happened?! Did you have a nightmare?" She asked.

"Must've been some nightmare." Buzz shook his head. "I'm just glad it happened while we were all awake."

Ruth glared at Buzz.

"_That was just insensitive! Couldn't Buzz see that the poor thing was a complete wreck?!" Ruth asked. "None of us know what Anita was dreaming about, but she doesn't seem to want to tell us anything. Not that I can really blame her, though. If it made her scream like that, it probably wasn't good."_

_Anita sat on a stump, still mortified and sobbing her eyes out. She looked at the camera that was focusing on her for a second before prompting the cameraman to look for an interview elsewhere. Anita quickly resumed her crying._

**(Opito Tribe)**

"What the heck was that scream?!" Mason asked as he and Molly continued to pick fruit.

"Hmm. The other tribe must not be too far away." Molly replied. "There's no way we would have heard that it they were on the other side of the island."

Mason shook his head. "Man. That was still unexpected, though." He said. "So what's this you were saying about an alliance?"

"Oh, yes! Well, as I was saying, I think it's obvious that I'm not the strongest person here." Molly sighed. "If I want to go further, I need to make an alliance with a strong person."

Mason beamed. "You need my help in making it through the game?" He asked.

"Of course I do, Mason." Molly nodded with a hopeful smile. "Can you help me? I can't do this without you."

"You need me to help you get through this? Don't you worry." Mason assured. "Heck, I didn't get my medals for survival by not helping people in need, you know."

"Thank you so much, Mason! I'll try to make it up to you!"

"_Molly needs my help, and I'm definitely going to help her." Mason explained determinedly. "If the others think I'm going to let them gang up on a sweet girl like Molly, they've got another thing coming!"_

_Molly smirked evilly. "I know I'd never make the merge without an alliance because I'm physically weak. I can't deny that." She explained. "So my plan is to join up with a strong, yet stupid, player. Mason fit that bill perfectly. All I need to do is keep up this sweet-girl facade and he'll do whatever I want him to."_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"Can we talk for a moment?" Buzz asked the group of Charlotte, Krash and Janine.

"What is it?" Janine asked.

"Strategy." The monkey replied simply.

"_My game plan is to take the stronger players further into the game. The more strong people we have on our team, the better chances we have at winning a challenge." Buzz explained. "Plus it helps to weed out the weak and, luckily for us, I've already found someone to target."_

"We need to focus on Anita the first chance we get." Buzz explained.

"Isn't it a little early to decide which members of the team are liabilities?" Charlotte asked suspiciously. "We haven't even had a challenge yet."

"You people saw and heard her earlier." Buzz replied sharply. "She'll be a distraction if we let her stay. She needs to go as soon as we go to our first Tribal Council."

"She had a nightmare. I don't see her as a hindrance because of that." Krash scratched his head.

"You will soon enough." Buzz explained. "I assure you that if you keep that girl around, she'll cost us."

"_I don't like Buzz and on any other day I probably would have just flipped him off." Charlotte said. "However, he made a valid point. If Anita keeps having nightmares, she could prove to become a major distraction. You see, this is what we call being stuck between two choices. Either one will have negative reactions, so the tricky part is finding out which has less problems."_

Meanwhile, Anita had managed to calm down enough to stop crying, but she was still shivering in fright and staring off into space with wide eyes.

"Are you okay?" Ruth asked. "That must've been a big nightmare you had."

"Yeah. You nearly gave all of us heart attacks." Lynn added.

Anita quickly nodded her head. "Y-Yes…Just…J-Just a dream…" She stammered.

"_I've seen people get scared from nightmares, but nothing like what Anita looked like back there." Lynn pointed out. "Man. I dunno what she was dreaming about, but I'm almost afraid to ask her."_

"…_N-No. I'm n-n-not going to t-tell you what I was dreaming about." Anita, still shaken, shook her head quickly. "It's s-something I…I d-don't want to go through again. I j-just hope I d-didn't scare anyone out of b-bed this morning…"_

Eventually, night came around again. The two tribes of nine went to bed, knowing that there was a challenge ahead of them the next day…

**(Opito Tribe; Day 3)**

"_Three days out here and things seem to be going well. We're obviously going to have a challenge today, but none of us know what to expect." Urtha explained. "We're going to need to focus on whatever challenge we're given, because the first winning the first challenge can boost our morale and help us in later events."_

Urtha emerged from the shelter and walked over to the fire pit, where Nelson was sitting. "Where is everybody?" She asked. "I was one of the last people in the shelter."

"Shamus went to see if we got treemail." Nelson replied as he looked around. "I think most of the others just woke up. They're down by the shore, washing their faces."

Urtha looked around as she sat down. "Who do you think we should target first?" She asked. "Brick and Molly aren't the strongest, but Ginny's completely crazy."

"It could go any way between the three of them." Nelson shrugged. "It's just a question of which one we could do without for the longest time."

"_Urtha and I half-formed an alliance. Not an official alliance, but we keep in contact with each other and relay some plans and ideas." Nelson shrugged. "She's the strength and I'm the brains. I'd say that we'd be able to do well when we're teamed up."_

Meanwhile, most of the others of the tribe were down at the ocean. Mason splashed some water onto his face to wake himself up. "So we're going to have a challenge today?" He checked.

"Most-likely." Jack replied. "It's been three days and we haven't received anything yet."

"Bring it on! We can totally take that other team on!" Brick cheered. "I can't wait to see what we have to do!"

"_I'm right in my element on this show. I've spent a number of years fighting the Locust, so I know everything about surviving in less-than-stellar conditions." Mason assured. "Doing a few challenges against a few normal people should be cakewalk compared to an army of mutants."_

"We've got our first treemail." Shamus called out as he walked into camp with a letter.

"What's it say?" Ginny asked as the tribe gathered around the pirate.

Shamus looked at the letter and read it out loud. "It says 'Prepare for your first challenge. I hope you're all good navigators'." He read.

"This is gonna be sick!" Brick said. "We'll beat the other team so bad!"

"I like your optimism, lad." Shamus said. "But if it's a game of navigation, it's anyone's game."

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 3)**

"_Anita got a better night's sleep last night, so she didn't wake up screaming." Krash explained. "That's good, because I've been told that we'll have a challenge today and we need everyone to be in their top form. I'm still curious as to what that dream was about, though…"_

"How're ya feeling, Anita?" Krash asked as Anita washed her face off at the ocean.

Anita sighed. "Fine. I'm glad that I actually got decent sleep last night." She explained.

"You wanna tell me what that nightmare was about?"

"No." Anita said, a little sharply. "That…That nightmare was a moment in my life that I don't want to relive again."

Krash gave a nervous chuckle. "Okay. Okay. Bad subject." He admitted. "I won't ask again."

Anita sighed, almost in relief. "Thank you." She replied.

"_Krash is nice, which is definitely a change of pace from what I've heard about Kremlings." Anita admitted. "I'm just glad that he decided not to press matters any further with my nightmare. At least he respects the fact that I…I don't want to bring it up again."_

Meanwhile, Buzz was talking to Vikki and Oiler, discussing strategy.

"If we lose today's challenge, we need to vote out Anita." Buzz explained. "If she keeps having nightmares, then we'll all pay for it."

"Shouldn't we wait and see who fails at the challenge, partner?" Vikki asked, an eyebrow raised. "I mean, I haven't seen anything from Anita that strikes her as a liability."

"Didn't you just hear me?! Her nightmares will become a distraction!" Buzz snapped. "We need to get rid of her before she brings us all down with her!"

"I'm waiting until the challenge is done before I make my choice." Oiler said, folding his arms. "If Anita doesn't do well in the challenge, then sure, I'll vote for her. Don't expect me to vote with you if she turns out to be a good player."

Buzz growled. "Fine. You'll see at the challenge and then you'll have no choice but to vote with me." He said as he turned and walked away.

"_I don't like that flea-ridden little punk. However, we need him because he's one of our strongest players." Vikki shrugged. "For the moment, I don't see any real reason to vote off Anita. I mean, they're just nightmares. How bad can they get?"_

Lynn marched into the camp with a letter. "Hey, guys! We've got treemail!" She announced.

"Looks like our first challenge has arrived." Ruth said. "What's it ask, Lynn?"

"It's wondering how good of navigators we are." Lynn replied.

"At least it's not a physical challenge." Oiler shook his head. "I think they've got more strong people than we do."

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two teams emerged from the jungle and walked into a clearing. Seeing two mats sitting aside, the tribes walked over to them. The Opito Tribe stepped onto the blue mat and the Eleda Tribe stepped onto the orange mat.

"Welcome to your first Immunity Challenge, everyone. Today, we're going to see how well you can fare with mazes." SSBFreak explained. The tribes suddenly saw two large mazes constructed out of wood sitting aside. "Each team will get a maze, and all nine members of each team must go through the maze one at a time without any help from the ones that already made it through. Simply put, the winning tribe is the ones that get all nine members of their team through the maze first."

The two tribes looked at each other, knowing that the challenge basically relied on luck.

"I'll let both tribes decide the order of how your team members will be going through the mazes, and then we'll start." SSBFreak explained.

After some talking, the order was decided for both teams. Shamus and Janine stood at the entrances to the mazes, preparing to run inside.

"Okay, for Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

With that, both Shamus and Janine rushed into their respective mazes. Janine took a turn to her left and ended up running into a dead end. Shamus only glanced down a turn and saw that it went into a wall before running right past the turn altogether.

"This is easy. Mazes are no match for a pirate." Shamus said as he quickly maneuvered his way through the maze.

Janine took a little bit to get the hang of the maze, but once she did, she was moving through it relatively quickly. "Where do I go now?" She asked as she went down another pathway.

"Come on, Janine! You got this!" Lynn called out from outside the maze, despite the fact that she couldn't see either of the two.

"Shamus, this should be right up your alley!" Nelson added. "Come on! You can do it!"

Shamus continued to work his way through the maze. He got stuck a couple of times, but he always knew where he had already been, so he was eventually on the right track again. Janine, however, had made a couple of wrong turns and forgot where she was for a bit before finding the right pathway (more through luck) and continuing on her way.

Because Janine got lost a couple of times, Shamus exited the maze first, leaving the maze on the opposite side he entered on. "I'm done!" He called to his team. "The next one can start!"

That was Molly's cue. The pink Minjo (Jinjo to the others) entered the maze and started her quest.

However, Molly quickly got lost. "I was never good with mazes." She grunted as she left a dead end to try again.

Shortly after Molly started, Janine left her tribe's maze successfully. She sighed in relief. "I'm done, everyone!" She called out.

Vikki quickly ran into the maze, hoping to make up for lost time. Meanwhile, Molly was still trying to find her way around the maze. She was slowly managing to get a hang of the maze, but she was still making wrong turns as she went through.

"Come on, Molly! You need to hurry and get through this before they overtake us!" Urtha called out.

"I'm trying, you loudmouth." Molly muttered under her breath before calling back in a much-sweeter tone. "I'm trying! I've always hated mazes!"

"Vikki, we've got a chance to catch up!" Charlotte called out.

"Working' on it, partner!" Vikki replied as she went around another turn, trying to find her way out of the maze. "I don't know heads or tails around this place…"

Eventually, Molly managed to find her way through the maze and emerged on the other side. However, right after she did, Vikki finished the maze as well. The cowgirl rushed over to stand with Janine.

"I'm out!" Molly said.

"I'm done, partner! Go for it!" Vikki added.

Ginny and Oiler rushed into the maze at almost the same time, Ginny slightly ahead of Oiler due to a faster sprint. The blue-haired girl looked around and quickly ran down a path, but made a wrong turn. Oiler rushed past a wrong turn and went down another path, but ended up hitting a dead end there, too.

"How're you doing, Ginny?" Brick asked.

"I'm getting lost! If these walls were blue, I'd have an easier time!" Ginny called back.

The remaining members of Opito and most of Eleda looked at each other strangely.

"Come on, Oiler! The blue girl's getting lost!" Lynn said.

"I'm trying as hard as I can!" Oiler replied from somewhere in the middle of Eleda's maze. "This place is harder to get through than it looks!"

Ginny continued to move around in the maze, getting lost a couple of times. "Have I already been this way?" She asked herself. "Too bad I'm not allowed to use my blue powder to mark my path so I won't get lost…"

Suddenly, a loud and painful-sounding crash was heard from Eleda's maze. Everyone else winced. "Are you okay in there, Oiler?" Vikki asked from the exit.

"Uh…Yeah. I'm fine." Oiler replied. "I…Just ran into the wall."

It took a bit, but Ginny was able to leave her team's maze first. "I'm finished! The next person can start!" She said.

Brick took off and rushed into the maze, smirking in anticipation. He made one turn and ended up getting hit with a dead end. "Aw, man! I gotta hurry before we lose our lead!" He said as he rushed back to the main path.

"Oiler still hasn't left the maze, Brick!" Molly shouted. "You need to hurry so we can build on our lead!"

"I'm coming, man!" Brick replied. "This maze is definitely harder than it looks!"

"Oiler, where are you?!" Janine asked. "We're falling behind!"

"Y'all think the run into the wall dizzied him a little?" Vikki asked.

Suddenly, a red arm crawled out from the maze, much to the disgust of Janine and Vikki. Oiler poked his head out from the maze and rushed out, showing that he was missing an arm. He scooped up his arm and jerked it back into its socket. "Finished!" He said.

At the entrance, Ruth entered the maze, starting her journey to the exit. The elderly Raposa was able to bypass a couple of wrong turns just by looking down the hallways, but ended up making a wrong turn.

"What happened in there?" Vikki asked Oiler.

"I had to put myself back together in there, but my arm kinda ran off on me." Oiler scratched his head. "I guess it wanted to finish the challenge as much as I did."

As Oiler was talking, Brick emerged from Opito's maze. "Yo, Jack! I'm done!" He called out.

"That was pretty fast." Jack noted as he rushed into the maze. "Maybe we've still got a big enough lead…"

"How're you doing in there, Ruth?" Janine asked.

"I'm doing fine, dear. I just need to make sure that I don't make as many wrong turns." Ruth replied. She looked down another turn and saw that it was a dead end. She quickly bypassed the turn.

"Just try to hurry it up. We're already behind.

Jack looked around as he made his way through the maze. Luckily, he was having an easier time making it through the maze than he thought he would. Bypassing a few wrong turns, the koopa quickly came upon the exit to the maze.

"That was almost too easy." Jack said as he left the maze. "I'm done over here!"

"I'm done, too!" Ruth, having left her tribe's maze at the same time as Jack, called out.

Mason rushed into the maze first, followed closely by Anita.

"You'd better hurry it up in there, kid!" Buzz shouted. "We're behind and we don't want to lose this!"

"D-Don't rush me!" Anita shouted back as she went around a turn, hitting a dead end. "I'm trying to go as fast as I can!"

Mason emerged from a dead end pathway and continued his search. "Too bad mazes were never a part of my training." He said. "I just hope I don't take too long here."

"Come on, Mason! You can do it!" Molly shouted. "We've got a huge lead, but we still need to build on it!"

Mason grinned. "You bet! This challenge is SO ours!" He said as he continued.

Outside the maze, Shamus looked down at Molly suspiciously. She looked bright and cheerful, but there was something about her he didn't like…

Anita frantically raced through the maze, getting stuck in several places and almost going the wrong way a couple of times. "Where's the exit?! W-Where's the exit?!" She asked as she raced through the maze.

"I think I've already been that way." Mason reasoned. "So that means I gotta go…This way!" He went down another pathway, soon reaching the end of the maze. "Alright! I did it!" He cheered.

Roscoe took this as his cue and raced into the maze. The oversized mouse looked around as he ran past a few dead end turns before losing his way and getting lost.

"What's keeping Anita? She's probably getting lost in there somewhere." Vikki noted.

"Come on, girl! We're falling even further behind, now!" Buzz shouted from the entrance.

"You okay in there, man?" Jack asked Roscoe.

"Just peachy!" Roscoe replied. "And you?!"

Jack paused in thought. "I guess it WAS kind of a stupid question." He shrugged.

Anita still hadn't been able to find her way through the maze, but she was still trying her hardest to get things done right. She was trying to block out Buzz's shouts from the entrance to the maze as she ran because it was hard to concentrate on the challenge and him at the same time.

Eventually, Anita made it out of the maze. Breathing a sigh in relief, she made her way over to the others. She was about to tell the next person she was done when she heard a voice beside her.

"I'm done over here!"

Anita turned and saw that Roscoe was already out of the maze. "I-I'm done, too!" She added.

"About freaking time." Buzz said as he raced into the maze after Urtha ran into hers.

Urtha looked around as she made her way through the maze. "Doesn't seem so bad." She said as she went around a corner, avoiding a dead end. "We've got a big lead, so I should be in good shape."

"Come on, Buzz! We're behind!" Charlotte called out from the entrance to the maze.

"You say that like it's my fault!" Buzz shouted back from inside the maze. "Yeesh. This place is near-impossible to get through. Am I even going the right way?"

"We're almost done, Urtha!" Nelson called out. "I'm the last one left and they've still got three people on deck!"

"I'm trying to find my way around this maze as best as I can!" Urtha assured. "It shouldn't take me too long!"

Before too long, someone made it out of the maze. The Eleda Tribe watched as Buzz left the maze and rushed over to the others. "I'm done!" He called out.

Right after Buzz called out to the others (and Lynn raced into the maze), Urtha emerged from her maze as well. "Nelson! I'm done! Go!" She ordered.

Nelson didn't need to be told twice and raced into the maze. This left no one on deck for Opito, while Charlotte and Krash were still waiting on Eleda.

"Are we doomed?" Krash asked.

"Not if we can get this done fast and the nerd royally screws up." Charlotte shook her head.

Lynn looked around and raced past a couple of dead end paths. "Let's see…I think the trick to mazes is always turn right." She said as she turned right the first change she had and kept making her way through the maze.

"All of the hallways look the same." Nelson said as he looked around. "Am I going the right way or back to where I started?" He continued going until he hit another dead end. "Haven't I been this way before?"

The waiting contestants watched for a little bit, hoping that their representative would exit their maze first. Soon, the winning contestant emerged from the maze…

The Opito Tribe cheered as Nelson emerged from the maze. The lanky nerd quickly made his way over to his tribe, finishing the challenge.

"The challenge is over! Nelson has exited the maze!" SSBFreak announced. "Opito wins Immunity!"

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning the first challenge, Opito. You're all safe for tonight." SSBFreak explained as he turned to the losing team. "Eleda Tribe, I'll be seeing you all tonight at Tribal Council, where you'll vote someone off your team." Stepping back, SSBFreak looked at everyone. "I'll give you the rest of the day to come up with a decision, so you can all head back to camp."

With that, the two tribes left the area to go back to their respective camps. Opito looked extremely pleased that they were safe, but Eleda looked miserable.

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Okay. So we lost Immunity. No big deal. It gives us the chance to drop our weakest player now before we lose any more." Buzz shrugged. "I just need to get the others on board and we'll get rid of the weak one tonight. No real loss, in my opinion."_

"So we need to focus on taking out Anita." Buzz explained to the other strong members of the tribe. "You all have to admit that she took way too long in that challenge."

"You weren't really helping her any, though." Janine shrugged. "I don't really know who's getting my vote, yet."

"Look, Anita's the weakest one here. You all at least have to admit that we're better off without her!" Buzz snapped back. "If you'll excuse me, I need to relay the message to the others."

Meanwhile, Anita was sitting around the fire pit with Ruth and Lynn, not looking very happy. "I…I'm getting eliminated, aren't I?" She asked.

"Not if I have anything to say about it, dear." Ruth replied with a sly smirk. "You just wait here. I'll go and try to sway some votes."

"You already know I'm not voting for you, man." Lynn assured. "I hate that little runt."

Anita flashed a weak smile. "T-Thanks."

"_I know I screwed up on the challenge…B-But it was so hard to concentrate. I was getting claustrophobic in there and Buzz was shouting at me the entire time." Anita insisted. "I don't want to g-go home so early. I'm j-just glad I've got some friends…"_

"Can I talk with you for a minute?" Ruth asked the strong members of the tribe. Buzz was off talking to Oiler and Vikki.

"What's on your mind, Ruth?" Charlotte asked.

"I want you to help me vote out Buzz." Ruth explained.

"Really?" Krash asked. "But…Isn't he one of our strong members?"

"Krash, that doesn't excuse his miserable attitude." Ruth shook her head. "You guys should know that he's been nothing but negative since we started."

"That may be so. None of us are very fond of him." Charlotte admitted.

"And think about this. Is he REALLY one of the strongest members of the tribe?" Ruth asked. "I've seen all three of you carry more lumber than him. Sure, he's strong, but all three of you are much stronger than him. Just think about this. Do we REALLY need him?"

The others looked at each other as Ruth left to return to the fire pit.

"_I may have a few years on me, but that doesn't mean I'm not a little crafty." Ruth said with a smirk. "Buzz was a horrible person to Anita, so I think it's only fitting that we eject him from the tribe. It would be a much better experience without him around, anyway."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The nine members of Eleda walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding their places, the tribe sat down and waited for council to start.

"Welcome to your first Tribal Council, Eleda Tribe. However, I know this is the last place you want to be at the moment." SSBFreak explained. "In a moment, you'll all cast your votes which will eliminate one of your tribemates from the game." He looked around at the tribe's faces and started asking questions. "Lynn, how's camp life been so far?"

"It's been awesome." Lynn said with a thumbs-up. "We managed to build the shelter in record time and we're getting along for the most part."

"For the most part?"

"There's a little bit of friction hanging around the tribe, man." Lynn replied. "I'm telling you, that friction is making the tribe a little unsettled."

"Do you know anything about the friction, Charlotte?"

"It's focused around Buzz and Anita." Charlotte replied. "Anita's had a nightmare that scared all of us out of our skins and Buzz seems to think that makes her a liability."

"It makes her a distraction, for the last freaking time!" Buzz snapped.

"Buzz, what's your story here?"

"We need to get rid of the weaker players if we want to win any challenges." Buzz replied. "Anita's the weakest here, so getting rid of her will give us a better chance for future challenges."

"Do you agree with that, Anita?"

"N-No. S-Sure, strength plays a part in winning, b-but it all comes down to how close the t-tribe is." Anita replied. "W-We're not going to win if we're not organized, and Buzz has been completely negative since the start."

"So it's either going to be you or him tonight?"

"That seems to be the case." Anita nodded.

"Oiler, how's the vote going to go?"

"I couldn't tell you. I mean, I know who I'm voting for, but I don't know about the others…" Oiler replied, scratching his head.

"It should be completely obvious." Buzz replied, glaring at Oiler. "Vote for Anita because she's weaker."

"Buzz, that's enough." SSBFreak said as he looked around at the members of the tribe. "Okay. I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote. Vikki, you're up."

The cowgirl nodded and left the hut, going down a short path to the voting table. Vikki quickly wrote a name down and placed it into the urn, leaving the table quickly.

Krash approached the table. It took him a little bit (because he had a hard time spelling properly), but Krash was able to get a name written down, which he quickly placed into the urn.

Ruth gave a smirk as she wrote a name down. The elderly Raposa folded up her ballot and placed it into the urn. "Serves you right." She said as she left the table.

Buzz approached the table and wrote a name down. "You're the weakest. It's the obvious choice." He said, having voted for Anita.

Oiler walked up to the table. Literally rotating his arm a couple of times, the crash test dummy wrote down a name and left the table as quickly as he had come.

Lynn gave a smirk as she walked up to the table, playing a tune in her head. Bobbing her head a couple of times, she placed her ballot into the urn.

Janine shook her head and wrote a name down. "It's for the good of the tribe." She said as she placed her vote into the urn.

Anita quickly wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "It's either you or me. I d-don't like you." She said, having voted for Buzz.

Charlotte, the last one to vote, took the least amount of time to write down the name on her ballot. The German girl placed the name into the urn and returned to the hut.

After everyone had voted, SSBFreak left the hut and returned a short while later with the urn. "After I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forth their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes."

"…First vote, Buzz." Buzz glared at Anita, whom gave a gulp.

"Anita. That's one vote for Buzz and one for Anita." Anita looked a little nervous.

"Buzz." Buzz lifted an eyebrow, then cast a glare at Ruth.

"Buzz." This caught Buzz's attention. He stared at the host with wide eyes.

"Buzz." Anita gave a sigh of relief. Buzz was starting to look a little mad.

"Buzz." Buzz ground his teeth as the beacon on his helmet started flashing red.

"Buzz." Buzz was looking around at the tribe, casting looks of hatred.

"Buzz." The entire tribe looked pleased with their choice. "Last vote and first person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Buzz. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said as he showed a ballot with Buzz's name on it (although both of the z's were backwards; Krash probably wrote it).

Buzz glared at his tribe. "Fine. You all suck." He spat as he stood up, grabbed his torch and walked over to the host, whom held a snuffer in his hand.

"Buzz, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Buzz's flame. "It's time for you to go."

"You'll pay for your choice." Buzz warned as he stormed out of Tribal Council without looking back.

When Buzz was gone, SSBFreak looked at the remaining eight tribe members. "And so ends our first Tribal Council, which clearly showed us that strength doesn't mean anything if you don't respect your team-mates." He explained. "You guys are down one member, but we'll see if you're able to function better without having someone so negative on your side. You can all head back to camp."

The remaining members of Eleda stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Anita brought up the rear, looking relieved and extremely thankful that the tribe hadn't voted her out. In a strange way, maybe she should have thanked Buzz for being so negative, because when she thought about it, she was really the one that cost her team the win…

"_What kind of idiots vote one of their strongest members out first?! It doesn't make any sense to me!" Buzz shouted, waving his arms around. "And they keep their weakest member over me at the same time! Whose hare-brained idea was that, anyway! I hate you. I hate you all SO much!!"_

**Voting History:**

**Buzz – Anita, Charlotte, Janine, Krash, Lynn, Oiler, Ruth and Vikki**

**Anita – Buzz**

Author's Note: When I started, I knew I wanted a first-boot that was a sharp contrast to Lilah from the previous season, who was pretty positive. That meant that I needed someone extremely negative while giving him a big episode. When I contemplated an Ape Escape fancharacter, I knew he wouldn't last very far, so this is where I stuck Buzz.


	3. Days 4 to 6

**(Eleda Tribe)**

No one looked upset as the eight remaining members of the Eleda Tribe walked into their campgrounds. It was almost as if their dead weight had been dropped before they lost too many challenges.

"_I'm SO g-glad everyone decided to get rid of Buzz and keep me. I know I've got it in me to be an asset to the t-team, but it was so hard while he was targeting me." Anita explained. "I owe Ruth b-big time for swaying everyone the way she did. If she d-didn't get the votes of the others, I'd be gone by now."_

"Well, I'm glad that's over with." Ruth said. "Now maybe we can do better at these challenges without having someone so negative around camp."

"Oh, I hear that!" Lynn laughed. "Now that we got rid of Negative Ned, we can be much-more organized."

As the rest of the tribe went further into the camp, Janine suddenly didn't look so sure about the team's choice. She didn't let anyone see her face, but it was still there.

"_I know that Buzz was a jerk and deserved to go, but he was still one of our strongest members." Janine explained. "And the fact that we kept the girl that cost us the win in the end over him gives me an unusual feeling. I just don't know if we made the right choice."_

"Hey, Krash?" Janine asked as the others went towards the shelter.

The kremling gave a toothy grin. "What's up?" He asked.

"Do you think we made the right choice in keeping Anita?" Janine asked. "She's technically the one that caused us to lose the challenge."

"But wasn't Buzz the one that was making her lose focus with the shouting?" Krash quizzed. "I know I'm not as bright as I'd like to be, but even I know that throwing off someone's concentration is costly."

Janine paused, either thinking the statement over or wondering how Krash had managed to say something smart. "I suppose you're right." She shrugged. "It makes sense."

"_K. Rool trains all of us kremlings to fight, but at the same time not to distract each other. That's kinda why I knew Buzz shouting at Anita during the challenge wouldn't be good for us." Krash scratched his head. "I'm glad we kicked Buzz off, anyway. Even though he's shorter than I am, he still scared me a little…"_

Janine decided to put her thoughts aside for now as she and Krash returned to the shelter, passing by Anita, whom had opted to sleep outside again.

**(Opito Tribe; Day 4)**

"_Things are definitely looking up for us. We managed to win the first challenge, so we've already got a one-man advantage on the other team." Nelson admitted. "However, I know that we can't get too cocky, because all it takes is a few screw-ups on our part to be behind. Last season proved that even the leading tribe going into the merge can end up shorthanded if they're not careful."_

Nelson was trying his hand at fishing, which mainly revolved around using a branch with some twine attached to it. Needless to say, he wasn't have a lot of luck.

"What are you trying to do, Nelson?"

Nelson turned and saw Urtha coming over, having just woken up. The nerd sighed. "I've been trying to catch a fish, but they all just bite through the line." He replied.

Urtha sighed. "Well, I guess there's nothing we can do unless we win a fishing rod." She explained as she stood beside him. "Is everyone else up?"

"_Nelson's a great observer, and he's been keeping an eye on everyone. I honestly don't know what I'd be aware of if he wasn't around." Urtha explained. "Because of his observations, we can work some plans around the others."_

"Yeah. Jack and Roscoe are trying to keep Ginny from painting the bridge to the smaller island blue." Nelson explained. "Molly and Mason are talking over there."

"Molly and Mason have been hanging around a lot." Urtha noted. "You think an alliance is being formed?"

Nelson gave a shrug. "Wouldn't surprise me in the least." He replied. "I mean, Molly joining forces with the one of the strongest players here is a good move on her part."

"Then why'd she join Mason?" Urtha asked. "I'm way stronger than he is…"

Meanwhile, Molly was carrying some wood over to the fire pit, where Mason was trying to start a fire. He was bashing two stones together, as if trying to create a spark. "Um…Mason, why are you hitting two stones together?" She asked.

"This is the best way to create fire when you don't have any provisions." Mason explained. "I did it all the time on week-long missions."

"Uh…We HAVE flint." Molly explained. "Both tribes were given some."

Mason paused, staring at Molly strangely. "Oh." He said as he tossed the stones behind him, resulting in a loud conk coming from aside.

"Ow! Dude, what was that for?!" Brick asked, storming into the area and rubbing his head.

"_No one appreciates my survival skills, and I just don't understand why. I mean, they're what makes me an asset, right?" Mason asked. "I mean, how was I supposed to know we were given flint? I was hitting those stones together for an hour already!"_

_Molly sighed in frustration. "I know I wanted to team up with an idiot, but did he seriously have to be THIS dumb?" She asked._

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 4)**

Vikki was having just as hard of a time fishing as Nelson was. In fact, her makeshift fishing rod looked worse off than the ghost-busting nerd on the other tribe's was.

The cowgirl sighed as she pulled her line in, showing that the fish she had just caught had bitten off the majority of the twine she had used. "This ain't gonna work." She said.

"_How the heck am I supposed to catch fish without a fishing rod? Back where little ol' me comes from, it's the only thing we use!" Vikki insisted. "And here I am, making myself look like a fool because the fish are outsmarting me!"_

"Need a hand, Vikki?"

"Man, I sure could-" Vikki said as she turned, only to jump in surprise when she saw Oiler standing there, literally holding his hand to her. "Very funny, Oiler. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to catch some fish."

"Who's kidding?" Oiler shrugged as he tied his severed hand to the makeshift fishing line (how he did it with one hand Vikki would never know). "My fingers make for excellent bait, you know."

Vikki could only stare as Oiler cast the line, throwing his own hand out to sea.

"_I guess it's only natural for these people to feel a little strange when I rip one of my own body parts off." Oiler shrugged as he was ripped his leg off to iron out a few stiff muscles. "But still, I've been doing it for the last four days. You'd think the rest of my team would be used to it by now."_

"Seriously, doesn't that hurt?" Vikki asked.

"Not really. I mean, all of us Crash Dummies fall apart at any hard impact to begin with." Oiler shrugged. "It's just a part of being what we are."

"And…You don't feel the fish biting your fingers?" Vikki asked again.

"I don't feel anything on detached limbs." Oiler smirked. "You can cook a detached arm over an open fire and I won't feel a thing as long as it's not still connected to my shoulder."

Vikki shook her head. "That's amazing and all, but I still don't know how that's gonna help us catch fish." She explained.

"Oh! Let me do it!" Krash, having run onto the scene, exclaimed. "I can totally do it!"

Without giving Vikki or Oiler a chance to react, Krash ran headfirst into the water and dove in.

"_Hey, I watched the last season and I saw how effective that Sandy woman was at catching fish." Krash explained. "I've always wanted to try catching fish her way, and with me being a kremling, I already have a natural fishing instinct!"_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"Come on! Can't I at least paint a little part of the small island blue?!"

"It took us long enough to get you away from that blue powder of yours to begin with! No way!"

The Opito Tribe was gathered around a lit fire pit. Everyone watched as Jack continued to argue with Ginny, mostly about how no one let Ginny have any fun (although there was a good reason for that). Ginny's response to Jack's shouting was to call him a 'blue-hater', although it did little more than confuse Jack, especially since he was wearing blue pants.

"_Ginny's seriously THIS close to making me lose my last nerve, and believe me, I've had that last nerve for as long as I can remember." Jack moaned, rubbing his eyes (pushing his shades higher up his face at the same time). "She's the crazy girl with such a one-track mind that she doesn't think about anything else. Then again, I have a couple of people back home I wouldn't mind unleashing her on…"_

"_All of these narrow-minded people need to open their thoughts and let the goodness that is blue enter their unfortunate souls!" Ginny pointed out. "We all need to see that blue is the only way to go, and I'm making it my personal mission to make everyone else see that!"_

"Anyone want some of the fruit I gathered earlier?" Molly asked as she started handing out fruit to the others.

Molly scooped up a couple of mangoes that she had collected and tossed one to Brick. Before taking a bite into the second mango, Molly offered a third mango to Shamus, whom was sitting beside her. "You want one?" She asked.

Shamus looked suspicious, but took it. "…Aye. Thanks." He nodded.

"_There's somethin' about that Molly that I don't like. Being a pirate, I have a sixth sense for knowing when someone's lying." Shamus explained, his good eye narrowed. "I've been getting nothing but bad feelings about Molly since we started. Four days into it, I'm almost positive she's hiding something. I'd say something, but who are the others going to believe? I'd need more proof…"_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"Did you get a good sleep, Anita?" Ruth asked as the blonde girl in question came over. "You didn't wake up screaming."

"I-I slept a little better." Anita nodded with a weak smile. "Those…Those nightmares only happen once in a while."

"Well, we all just hope you sleep well tonight as well." Ruth said. "We have a challenge tomorrow."

"_Anita's got potential to be a good player, and that's one of the reasons I helped her survive Tribal Council." Ruth explained. "If we can come across a challenge she can do better at, then I can tell everyone that keeping her was a good idea."_

"So what kind of challenge do you guys think we'll have?" Lynn asked. "I hope it's something physical!"

"Seriously? After we voted out of of our strong players?" Anita asked.

"We have Charlotte, Krash and Janine!" Lynn laughed. "Who do they have? The rhino and the survival-guy? We still outnumber them for strong players!"

Ruth pondered this, then gave a thoughtful nod. "The odds WOULD be in our favour." She admitted. "I know I'm not the strongest, but that Jinjo the other tribe has is just as weak as I am."

"Oh, I am SO hoping it's a physical challenge tomorrow. I can't WAIT to see the looks on the other tribe's faces when we take down all of them while short one person!" Lynn cackled. "We'll show them that we're an even more competent team now!"

"_Lynn is…Very excitable. She's extremely optimistic about everything. She a-actually kind of…Reminds me of m-myself back before…" Anita said before her eyes snapped open. "N-No! I'm not g-going to tell you!!"_

Eventually, night rolled in again. The members of both tribes went to sleep, knowing that there would be a challenge the following day.

**(Opito Tribe; Day 5)**

"_We're going to have a challenge today. I think it's going to be Reward since we haven't had one yet." Brick shrugged. "I hope we can do well in the challenge, because we've definitely got an assortment of skill. My only concern is that the other tribe has a number of strong members…"_

Brick, having been put in charge of keeping an eye on Ginny (Jack and Roscoe said they needed a break), walked over to the treemail box with her. "You think we'll be having a challenge, man?" He asked.

Ginny gave a shrug. "It'll be coming up soon. I just hope it'll be here quickly so I can spread the love of blue to the other tribe." She said.

"Uh…I don't know if the other tribe would like that, Ginny."

"Aw, why not?!" Ginny demanded. "Everyone needs blue in their lives! I mean, look at how much good it did me!"

Brick looked over Ginny's blue outfit and blue hair. "In all honesty, I think you look like a demented smurf." He replied.

Ginny squealed in glee. "I LOVE the smurfs!"

"I kinda thought so."

"_It was nice of Brick to say that about me. In all honesty, I would NEVER put myself at the same level as the Smurfs. I idolize them too much." Ginny pointed out. "Still, I guess it's the thought that counts, so I'll take it as a compliment."_

Brick reached into the treemail box and pulled out an envelope. "Looks like we've got treemail, Ginny."

Ginny frowned. "The note's not blue. When is that host gonna cave in to my bribes?" She asked.

Brick did a double-take. "Wait. What?"

"Nothing."

Brick and Ginny went back to the tribal grounds and the Lego man waved the treemail around. "We've got treemail!" He announced.

"What's it say?" Jack asked.

"It's wondering how much we're able to haul." Brick scratched his head.

Everyone quickly looked at Molly uneasily. The pink Minjo quickly held up her hands. "H-Hey! We're one person up! I can sit it out!" She insisted.

"_The challenge looks like it's going to be a physical one. Not that I'm complaining. I can out-muscle most of the other tribe anyway." Urtha shrugged. "The only one I'm truly worried about is the cavewoman. If the two of us go neck-and-neck, it'll be close."_

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 5)**

"_It's day 5. That tells me that we've got a challenge coming. It's most-likely going to be a Reward Challenge, and we're defiantly going to need whatever's up for grabs." Charlotte pointed out with a smirk. "Yes, we voted out a strong player. However, I still think we can pull this one off. I was raised to go against the odds, and I'm not about to let what I've been taught go to waste."_

Charlotte watched as Lynn came over with a treemail letter. "What type of challenge are we doing, Lynn?" She asked.

"It doesn't say. All it says is 'How much can you haul'?" Lynn replied.

"Looks like it's a strength-based challenge." Ruth sighed and shook her head.

"_This isn't good. We're behind and we're up against a strength challenge, which means I HAVE to do it. The other tribe has the Jinjo, but they can sit her out." Ruth said, rolling her eyes. "I think we may be at a disadvantage here."_

"Awesome! Strength challenge! Oh, we're GO gonna own those guys!" Lynn cheered.

"Don't get overconfident, Lynn." Janine explained. "If you think you're going to win, you'll be taken off guard."

"She has a point, though." Oiler supplied. "By comparison, we have more strong players than they do."

"We still can't let that distract us." Janine pointed out. "We still need to focus on the challenge if we want to win."

"Who said we weren't?" Lynn asked with a smirk. Janine slapped herself on the forehead.

"_I almost didn't want a strength challenge to happen. Being the strongest member of the tribe, the others could come to depend on my strength if I show it off too much." Janine explained. "This makes me a target as soon as the merge hits and I saw what happened to Barney last season."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Opito Tribe had arrived at the challenge area first and were waiting for the Eleda Tribe to show up. However, before the blue team could wonder where their opponents were, SSBFreak started talking.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the Eleda Tribe." SSBFreak announced.

The Eleda Tribe emerged from the jungle and walked over to their mat. The Opito Tribe saw whom had been eliminated.

"Buzz was voted out at the last Tribal Council." SSBFreak announced. No one looked surprised as the Eleda Tribe stepped onto their mat. "Welcome to your first Reward Challenge, everyone. Here, we will put your strength to the test to see which of you are stronger than the others." He said. Everyone saw sixteen huge blocks sitting in a row just behind the host. "Here's the challenge. Your task is for each of you to pull one of those blocks as far as you can within three minutes. Each of those blocks weighs one-hundred and fifty pounds and we've made sure that everyone's been given an equal load. The team that gets the most combined distance wins Reward, which is blankets for the entire winning tribe."

The two tribes looked amongst each other, knowing that they would need the reward provided.

"Opito Tribe, you guys have one extra member." SSBFreak said. "You must choose one member to sit out."

Molly quickly raised her hand. "I can't pull things that heavy." She said. No one on her team objected.

"Okay. If you'll all get into position, we can get started."

**(Later…)**

The sixteen contestants minus Molly were standing in a line, connected to their respective blocks. Several of the contestants looked ready to start while others were dreading the outcome.

"Okay. For Reward, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "GO!"

With that, the sixteen contestants took off, dragging their blocks behind them. Urtha and Janine took an early lead, surging ahead of everyone else. Mason and Charlotte were also neck-and-neck, but were still a bit behind the leaders. As the other continued to pull at their blocks, slowly moving them forward, the trio of Ruth, Brick and Anita were at the rear, hardly able to move at all.

Charlotte glanced to her left and saw Mason pulling his block as she was pulling hers. "You ready to give up, comrade?" She asked.

"Never in a million years!" Mason shot back. "This is nothing compared to what I've lived through! I've managed to lift-"

"You know what? I just realized that I don't care." Charlotte shook her head as she continued forward.

Jack breathed a few times before giving the block he was hauling a hard yank, managing to drag it half a foot (which still wasn't bad). He looked to his right and saw Roscoe pulling his block at the same rate as he was. "Are the others catching up yet?" He asked.

Roscoe shook his head. "We're still ahead of a few people and the three at the back have hardly moved at all." He explained.

"As long as there are more people from the other team behind us and not ahead of us, we're golden!" Jack said.

"I'm trying not to think about that." Roscoe shook his head. "It breaks my concentration."

At the back of the line, the three trailing contestants were still trying to haul their heavy blocks. Anita was doing the best of the three, but still had only succeeded in pulled her block a few feet. Brick was just behind her, and struggling just as much as the teenager. Ruth was at the very back and hadn't moved her block at all, even after constant struggling to pull it ahead.

"How in the blazes does he expect me to pull something this heavy?!" Ruth asked through her teeth. "Not only am I small, but I'm the oldest one here!"

Brick grit his teeth as he continued to pull at the block he was hauling. He was cursing his luck at the moment, because not only was he seriously falling behind, but Anita was starting to gain ground on him.

"Man! There's no way I'm gonna let her beat me!" Brick said as he pulled at the block, moving forward a slight bit.

Nelson grunted as he struggled to keep up with the rest of the pack. While he was still a good ways ahead of the three in back, he and Oiler were pretty much by themselves after the trailing contestants.

"Of all the times for my lack of upper-body strength to kick in!" Nelson muttered.

"You think you've got it bad?" Oiler asked as he pulled at the block again. The block moved forward, but yanked Oiler's arm from his socket at the same time.

"Come on, guys! You're starting to fall behind!" Molly called out from the sidelines. "We need the win!"

Shamus grunted as he pulled at his block, trying to block out Molly. His suspicions of Molly were rising, but he didn't have the time to think about it at the moment. "You think you've got the energy to go faster, Ginny?" He asked. "I can see Krash way up front."

Ginny gave a shrug. "I could try." She replied.

Vikki narrowed her eyes as she watched Ginny pass her by. She tried to keep up with the blue-haired woman, but she was unable to go any faster. "Man. Nothing's workin'." She lamented.

Ginny gave a grin as she saw that she was catching up to Krash, whom was a little bit behind the leaders. She was only able to move her block about a foot at a time, but it was doing the job. However, as Ginny was hauling her block, she heard someone coming up beside her. Turning her head, Ginny saw Lynn easily passing her by, grinning the entire time.

"Bet ya weren't expecting that, were ya?" Lynn teased as she pressed on, leaving Ginny in the dust.

"How the heck?" Ginny asked.

Krash grinned when he saw Lynn coming up behind. "How're ya doing that?" He asked.

"I dunno. I just run with it and try not to think about the searing pain in my arms." Lynn replied.

"Okay, everyone! You're down to one minute!" SSBFreak announced.

"Come on, guys! We can totally do this!" Molly cheered.

Still leading the pack were Urtha and Janine. The two strongwomen looked at each other as she hauled their blocks forward.

"You have to be getting tired!" Janine said.

"Are you kidding? I can bench press this type of weight all day!' Urtha shot back.

Janine smirked. "We've been pulling these blocks nonstop. Even we have limits!" She said.

"If that's the case, then you're probably at the end of your energy as well." Urtha narrowed her eyes.

Janine looked ahead, still smirking. "I think not."

Showing an amazing display of strength, Janine lunged forward and shot past Urtha, charging ahead and gaining a lot of ground on her rival. Urtha tried to pick up the pace, but she had already exerted too much energy and could only watch as Janine continued to gain ground until SSBFreak spoke.

"Okay, stop! Time's up!" SSBFreak announced. "Everyone stop and stay where you are!"

Everyone stopped and waited as SSBFreak inspected all of the blocks and the distance everyone had travelled. When SSBFreak was finished, he looked at everyone.

"Okay, I've made the calculations and a winner has been decided." SSBFreak said. "It was close, but in the end, one tribe managed to rack up a lot more points to put them in the lead, and that tribe is…The Eleda Tribe!"

The Eleda Tribe cheered as they unhooked themselves from their blocks. Janine let out a loud cheer, seeing as how she had played a major part of the win. The Opito Tribe looked frustrated and disappointed. Molly, standing at the sidelines, silently grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes, but not enough for anyone to notice.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning the first Reward Challenge, Eleda. These blankets are now yours." SSBFreak said as he handed Janine a stack of blankets. Once he finished, he looked at the losing tribe. "Opito Tribe, you may have lost Reward, but there's still the Immunity Challenge tomorrow, and that's the challenge you really want to win. I'll see you all then, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"We totally owned those guys!" Lynn cheered as the victorious tribe entered their camp. "Seriously, there was no way they could top us!"

"We got Janine to thank for that because of her little sprint in the end as well." Vikki added.

Janine's smile faltered slightly. "No. I'm not the only one responsible for the win." She insisted. "We had four people in the six leading. Charlotte, Lynn, Krash and I were all out in front with Urtha and that weird guy with the beard."

"_I was so caught up in the game that I was pretty much the person that won. That's what I've been wanting to avoid." Janine rolled her eyes. "I can't let my tribe-mates rely on my strength too much because they'll give me the axe at the merge, so I decided to let some of the others share the glory."_

"I'm just glad we were able to win even with me competing." Ruth sighed in relief. "I don't think I was able to move that block at all."

"Yeah. Seriously, why'd they make all of us haul the heavy blocks?" Krash asked.

"The important thing is that we won." Charlotte pointed out. "However, we can't let the victory get to our heads."

"I'm with Charlotte. We've got another challenge tomorrow." Oiler piped up. "That one's going to be Immunity."

"_Darn it. Just when little old me was feeling happy that we won a challenge." Vikki folded her arms. "Now I got myself another challenge to worry about. If we're gonna beat the other team when it really counts, we need to be ready for them."_

"So what now?" Krash asked. "We got the sweet blankets, but we can't use them till tonight."

"Just continue about our daily business." Charlotte replied simply. "But be prepared for anything tomorrow. The challenge could be anything."

With that, everyone dispersed around the camp. At least the overall feeling of the tribe had improved since their win…

"_I must thank my superior for training me as much as he did. If I was unprepared for this, I probably wouldn't know what to do by now." Charlotte chuckled. "Thankfully, I've got the experience and training needed to survive here, so hopefully I can get the others to see that."_

**(Opito Tribe)**

On the other hand, the Opito Tribe looked disappointed as they walked back to camp. As soon as they got back, Jack and Roscoe made themselves scarce so they could talk strategy in private. The rest of the tribe stayed around the fire pit.

"_Dude, that was NOT our best moment. They had so many people up front that having Urtha lead the pack for us didn't matter." Brick moaned. "This sucks. I wasn't expecting a perfect run, but I was at least expecting to win the first few challenges before losing. At least it was a Reward Challenge."_

"What happened? I thought we'd win for sure with Urtha's strength leading the pack." Molly noted.

Urtha sighed. "Mason and I were the only ones in our tribe in the leading six." She replied. "They just have more people in shape than we do."

Shamus folded his arms. "Well, at least it was close, right? I mean, it's not like they beat us into the ground or anything." He rolled his good eye.

"We don't know that." Urtha replied. "We'll just have to hope that we'll have better luck with the Immunity Challenge tomorrow."

"_We got hit with major bad luck at the challenge. There were some people on the other tribe that caught us all off guard." Urtha noted. "Well, at least now we know what to expect, so we'll be more prepared for the challenge tomorrow. Well, at least I will. I can't speak for the others."_

"We can still win." Mason assured. "I mean, I've fought through tougher odds than this. Something like this is no problem."

"Mason, the odds are still in our favour." Shamus reminded. "We're still one person ahead."

Mason blinked a couple of times. "Oh, yeah."

_Molly slapped herself on the forehead. "It's times like this that makes me wish I never teamed up with the brainless baboon." She replied. "However, I need his vote, because if we lose, I'm automatically a target because I'm the weakest. I hate it with a passion, but it's something I can't change."_

Soon, night rolled in. The two teams were asleep in preparation for the following day and the challenge ahead.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 6)**

Charlotte emerged from the shelter and looked around the camp. She couldn't see Vikki, which told the German woman she had gone to get treemail, as she wasn't in the shelter either. However, when she spotted the trio of Anita, Lynn and Ruth sitting by the fire pit, talking, her gaze grew serious.

"_Ever since Anita's little scream a few days ago, I've noticed that she was responsible for bringing together a strong alliance." Charlotte explained. "Ruth was at her side in a flash and Lynn followed soon after. I realize that this could lead to a majority if I'm not careful. I may have to separate that group before things get too hard for me to handle."_

Charlotte looked back and saw Krash emerging from the shelter, yawning and rubbing his head. Deciding to express her thoughts, the German approached him. "Krash, can we talk?" She asked.

"Uh…Sure. What for?" Krash asked.

"I think we need to focus on those three over there next." Charlotte pointed out.

"_Charlotte told me that there were threats in numbers and said that we should focus on Anita, Lynn and Ruth next if we wanted to advance in the game." Krash said before scratching his head. "That's strange. I always thought the term was that there was SAFETY in numbers…"_

Meanwhile, at the fire pit, the trio of Anita, Lynn and Ruth were all talking, although it seemed like Ruth and Lynn were more trying to keep Anita calm, as she was looking horrified again.

"You didn't scream this morning, Anita." Lynn said. "You didn't have the same nightmare as last time?"

Anita quickly shook her head. "S-S-Same nightmare. I…I g-got up before the n-nightmare went too far…" She replied. "I t-tried not to scream when I w-woke up, but it's r-really hard to do."

"It's alright, dear. If you need to scream, then just do it." Ruth said. "We don't know what you're going through, but we know it's something you don't want to bring up again."

Anita simply nodded.

"_I owe those t-two big time. R-Ruth was responsible for g-getting rid of Buzz and Lynn h-has been supportive of m-me since my l-last nightmare." Anita stuttered in fear. "I k-knew that I'd b-be facing my n-nightmares while I w-was out here. I j-just didn't think they'd l-lead to this…"_

"We've got treemail, y'all!" Vikki called out, marching into camp with the newly-acquired treemail. The rest of the tribe gathered around her.

"What type of challenge are we up against?" Krash asked.

"It just asks how strong our strong people are." Vikki replied.

The rest of the tribe found themselves staring at Janine, Charlotte and Krash. The three looked at each other nervously.

**(Opito Tribe, Day 6)**

"_Okay. I've survived out here for six days. Not a bad start, but I've got a long way to go." Jack explained. "Being the evil genius that I am, I know that I need to strategize in secret and without making too much of an impact. If the rest of the tribe finds out I'm plotting behind their backs, I'll really be in for it."_

"Roscoe, we're gonna need to start putting some strategy into use." Jack explained.

"What'd ya have in mind? We can't do anything this early because that's never good for your image with the rest of the team." Roscoe replied, folding his arms.

"Don't think I don't know that. We need to try and get the best of the others, but in a way that doesn't involve us getting noticed for it." Jack replied.

"I hear you. Unfortunately, it's not going to be that easy." Roscoe pointed out.

"_This ain't good. On one hand, if we let the people we want to target stick around, they'll get the better of us." Roscoe replied. "On the other hand, if we get rid of said people, people will suspect us and target us. What we need is a way to overtake the majority without actually having to do it."_

"This is gonna be tough, but we'll have to do it eventually." Jack shook his head.

"I know. We'll just have to wait and see where the cards fall."

"Hey! We've got treemail!"

The tribe gathered around Brick, whom had arrived with treemail.

"What type of challenge is it?" Nelson asked.

"It doesn't say. It just says 'How strong are your strongest'?" Brick replied.

"Another strength challenge." Mason laughed. "This is the perfect chance to make up for our last loss."

"Don't get cocky, Mason." Urtha said. "Their strong players are just as strong as ours."

"_The last time we went against the Eleda Tribe in a show of strength, it didn't end very well. Maybe this time we'll get luckier." Nelson reasoned. "We just need to hope that the challenge plays to our strengths and go from there."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two tribes emerged from the jungle and walked out onto a clearing. Seeing their tribe mats on the ground, the seventeen contestants walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your second Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will not only be testing the strength of your strongest members, but the grip of everyone else." SSBFreak explained. The contestants saw that there were two playing fields set up, each with five large posts hanging parallel to the ground around ten feet in the air. "Each team will select their strongest three members, whom will toss the other five members of their tribe at these posts hanging above the ground one at a time. The people the strong players toss must grab hold of the posts and keep themselves from falling back to the ground. If anyone lets go of their post, they have to be thrown again. The first team to have all five tossed players hanging onto a post will win Immunity."

The two tribes looked nervous, especially the strong players that knew the success of the team relied on them.

"Opito Tribe, you have one extra member." SSBFreak explained. "Who will you be sitting out this time?"

Brick examined his fingerless hands for a few seconds. "There's no way I'm getting a good grip with these hands. I'll sit out." He said.

"Okay. Everyone else, I'll give you a few moments to decide who will be doing the throwing for this challenge."

**(Later…)**

The eight players of both teams stood on the two playing fields, in the middle of the five suspended posts. Urtha, Mason and Shamus were the throwers for Opito, while Janine, Krash and Charlotte were the throwers for Eleda.

"Okay, for Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

"Who's got the best grip?" Janine asked.

"I'll do it, partner!" Vikki said.

"Throw Molly first." Urtha explained. "She's the lightest."

"Will do." Shamus nodded.

The strong members of Eleda grabbed Vikki, Janine holding the cowgirl's shoulders while Charlotte and Krash were holding her legs.

"Okay. On three!" Charlotte said. "One, two, three!"

The Eleda throwers tossed Vikki into the air. Vikki saw that she was rapidly approaching the suspended post and latched onto it with her arms and legs.

"Eleda manages to get their first point, but only for as long as Vikki can hold on!" SSBFreak announced.

"Okay. Who's next?" Krash asked.

"Throw Oiler last!" Vikki suggested while hanging upside-down. "Those limbs of his will just come off if he hangs on for too long!"

Oiler nodded. "She's right. I'll go last."

"I'll go next!" Lynn volunteered.

The Opito Tribe threw Molly towards the first post. The small Minjo quickly grabbed hold of the post and held on.

"Molly is holding on tight, so now the clock is ticking!" SSBFreak said. "The Opito Tribe needs to get the other four players up on the posts before Molly loses her grip!"

"You'd better hurry up!" Molly pointed out. "I can't hang on forever!"

"You want to go next, Jack?" Urtha asked.

"May as well. I got a good grip." Jack nodded.

By now, the Eleda Tribe had thrown Lynn up to the post, but the black-haired woman's aim was off, causing her to fall right back down into the arms of the throwers.

"The Eleda Tribe messed up! Lynn couldn't grab the post!" SSBFreak said.

Lynn narrowed her eyes. "Throw me again!" She ordered.

However, before the Eleda Tribe could throw Lynn, the Opito Tribe had already thrown Jack. The koopa managed to get a good grip on the post and held on for dear life.

"The Opito Tribe scored another point and Jack is hanging on!" SSBFreak announced.

"Who next?" Urtha asked.

"I say Nelson." Mason said. "Those long arms of his could give him a good grip."

Nelson paused, then shrugged. "Okay. We'd better do it quick before we fall behind." He said.

"Hurry up, guys!" Brick called out. "They're starting to catch up!"

The Eleda Tribe tossed Lynn at the post again. Lynn had better luck this time around and managed to grab hold of it.

"The Eleda Tribe manages to get another point, but they're behind now!" SSBFreak announced.

"Anita next, partners!" Vikki called out.

"You okay with that, Anita?" Janine asked.

Anita nodded. "Let's just do this and catch up."

The Opito throwers grabbed Nelson and tossed him upwards. However, the instant Nelson had latched onto his post, Molly's grip slipped and she was sent crashing to the ground.

"Opito scores a point with Nelson, but Molly lost her grip!" SSBFreak said. "If you guys want to get that point back, get her back up there!"

"You want us to throw you back up there?" Urtha asked.

"Do the others first and come back to me afterwards." Molly shook her head. "My arms are sore and I don't think I'd hold on long."

"Do Ginny next." Roscoe said. "My grip's not the best either."

"You ready, crazy girl?" Mason asked.

"Am I ever!" Ginny said as she looked up at a post she had just turned blue with her powder. "Throw me at that one!"

Anita found herself in midair and quickly saw that she was fast-approaching the post. Latching onto it, Anita managed to stay put.

"And Anita manages to get a grip and scores another point for Eleda!" SSBFreak said. "They're now ahead!"

"R-Ruth! Ruth is next!" Anita said.

"I won't have the best grip because of my short arms, but I'll last longer than Oiler." Ruth nodded.

"Okay. This will be easy." Charlotte said. "Ruth is the lightest and can be thrown easily."

Ginny squealed in glee as she was thrown towards the blue post. Ginny happily latched onto it in a death hug.

"BlueBlueBlueBlue!" Ginny cooed.

Mason scratched his head. "I think there's something wrong with her." He said.

"You THINK?" Urtha asked.

"Keep movin'!" Shamus ordered. "Roscoe, you're next!"

"Keep it up, guys! We can win this!" Brick cheered.

It took little-to-no effort at all for the Eleda throwers to toss Ruth at the post. The elderly Raposa grabbed hold of the post as best as she could, but still managed to hold on.

"And Ruth is on the post!" SSBFreak announced. "The Eleda Tribe only needs one more point!"

"You ready, Oiler?" Charlotte asked.

"I just hope this finishes fast. If my limbs fall off, we'll fall behind." Oiler shook his head.

"Hurry up, y'all!" Vikki called out. "I'm starting to slip!"

"Okay…Heave!" Urtha shouted as she, Mason and Shamus tossed Roscoe at the post. Roscoe reached out and tried to grab the post, but fell short by just a few inches. Missing the post, Roscoe fell right back down again, landing directly on Mason.

"Oy! Get off me!" Mason shouted.

Molly moaned in frustration, quiet enough for no one to hear her.

"Okay…Now!" Charlotte said.

Oiler was thrown straight at the only empty post and wrapped his arms around it.

"And that's it! All five players are holding onto a post!" SSBFreak announced. "Eleda wins Immunity!"

Almost right after SSBFreak made the announcement, Oiler's arms popped off, causing the crash dummy's torso to fall to the ground. As the other Eleda members cheered and dropped to the ground, the Opito Tribe looked disappointed.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on your first Immunity win, Eleda. You're all safe from elimination, at least for now." SSBFreak said to the victorious team before turning to the losing tribe. "Opito, I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council tonight, where you'll vote a member of your team off. I'll give you the rest of the day to decide your votes, so until then, you can all head back to camp."

The two teams dispersed, heading back to camp. The Opito Tribe, now looking worried, started thinking about who they would vote off.

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_The last few days have been pretty rough on us. We've just lost two challenges in a row, so you can bet that it doesn't do much for our morale." Urtha moaned. "But we're going to Tribal Council tonight, and we need to get rid of our weakest member. That's Molly."_

"So it's Molly tonight?" Nelson asked.

Urtha nodded. "If she didn't let go of her post, we may have won Immunity." She said. "That and she's the weakest here."

Nelson nodded. "Keeping her around could make her a liability." He replied.

"_We need to do this to make sure that we don't lose any more challenges. If we get rid of the weaker players, we'll have a better chance." Nelson said. "I'm sure that we'll get votes easy enough. Everyone knows that Molly's the weakest here…"_

"So let's go spread the word and see if the others are on our side." Urtha said.

Meanwhile, Molly was sitting by the fire pit, in deep thought. Mason came walking by, noticing her. "What's on your mind, Molly?" He asked.

"Mason…I've been doing some thinking." Molly said. "Why do you think we've been losing challenges based on strength?"

Mason scratched his head. "Because the other tribe has players just as strong as ours?" He asked.

"No. Because Urtha's been throwing the challenges."

Mason's eyes widened. "Wait. What?!"

"_I know that I'm a target tonight, so I need someone to pin blame on to keep these people from voting me off." Molly muttered before smirking. "That's when I got this idea to blame Urtha, saying that she doesn't want us to depend on her strength, so she threw the challenges that caused us to lose. Needless to say, Mason bought it right away."_

"So what do you think we should do?" Mason asked, crouching low and whispering. "Should we vote Urtha off?"

"Yes. We need to do that so we can win challenges again." Molly nodded. "But we need more votes. Mason, I need you to talk to Jack and Roscoe. I'll talk to Ginny."

Mason nodded. "There's no way I'm going to let her get away with this." He proclaimed. "Don't worry, Molly. I'll make sure we have their votes."

With that, Mason was off. Once he was gone, Molly saw Ginny spreading some of her blue powder onto the sand. Smirking, Molly walked over and put on a cheery face. "Hey, Ginny?" She asked.

Ginny paused, then looked at Molly. "Yeah? What's up?" She asked.

"I think you may want to vote for Urtha tonight."

Ginny blinked a couple of times. "Aaaaaand…Why?" She asked.

"I just found out that she hates blue."

Ginny's eyes snapped open.

**(Tribal Council)**

The nine members of Opito walked into Tribal Council, everyone holding a lit torch. Finding their seats, everyone sat down and waited for SSBFreak to start.

"Welcome to your first Tribal Council, Opito. I know that none of you want to be here right now, but you unfortunately lost the wrong challenge. In just a moment, you'll be casting votes that will eliminate one of your own from the game." SSBFreak announced as he started asking questions. "How's life been at camp, Jack?"

"Pretty good for the most part." Jack scratched his head. "I mean, there are definitely a few people that annoy me, but I'll learn to live with it."

"Care to tell us who those people are?"

"I ain't throwing stones, mac." Jack shook his head. "That could make me some enemies."

"Fair enough. Shamus, you guys managed to win the first challenge of the game, then lost the next two." SSBFreak said. "Do you know the reason behind this reversal of fortune?"

"I think it's all luck, lad." Shamus shrugged. "The other team's just as determined to win challenges as we are."

"Are your losses anyone's fault?"

"We're all at fault in some way. Otherwise we wouldn't be here."

"Urtha, I hear there have been a few names getting thrown around at camp earlier. Care to explain?"

"We've been trying to figure out who to vote off." Urtha explained. "I think our best bet would be to oust the weakest player and hope that we'll do better in later challenges."

"Molly, is she talking about you?"

"She is. I mean, I know that I lost my grip on the post in the challenge, but I can't help it when my arms are so short." Molly sighed. "I just wish things could have gone differently, but I hope I don't get voted out."

Shamus lifted an eyebrow in suspicion. SSBFreak didn't seem to notice and continued. "Brick, who's getting your vote tonight?" He asked.

"In all honesty, I'm just voting for whom I think deserves to go the most." Brick replied. "I mean, there were definitely a few people that messed up these past few days, so it's hard to judge through that."

"From the sound of things, you still seem unsure."

"Well…No. I know who I'm voting for." Brick shook his head. "I'm just not saying anything."

"Okay. I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Nelson, you're up."

Nelson got up and left the hut, walking down the path to the voting table. He wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Jack scribbled a name down and voted. As he did, he couldn't help but smirk to himself.

Roscoe approached the table, holding a smirk similar to Jack's. The mouse wrote a name down and placed it into the jar.

Urtha wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "You're the weakest, even though you're the nicest." She explained, having voted for Molly.

Mason looked calm as he wrote a name down. After voting, he turned and left the table, trying to look professional, but tripped over his own feet on the way back.

Brick walked up to the table and wrote a name down. "I don't wanna do this, man." He shook his head as he placed his vote into the urn.

Molly stepped up to the table and wrote a name down, showing it to the camera. "It's either you or me. I just hope my rallying worked." She said, having voted for Urtha.

Shamus smirked as he wrote a name down. "I'm not falling for yer tricks." He warned, placing his vote into the jar.

Ginny walked up to the table, looking surprisingly cross. She silently wrote a name down, placed it in the urn and left the table without a word.

Once all nine players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the votes. He returned a short while later with the urn under his arm. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forth their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes."

"…First vote, Molly." Molly looked nervous, or at least pretended to.

"Molly." Molly was hoping her plan has worked.

"…Urtha." This caught the rhino's attention. Urtha stared at SSBFreak, surprised.

"Urtha. That's two votes for Molly and two for Urtha." Urtha and Nelson looked at each other nervously.

"Molly." Molly was starting to look nervous, this time for real.

"Molly" The pink Minjo bit her lip.

"Urtha." Urtha was having a hard time believing people had voted for her at all.

"Urtha. That's four votes for Molly and four for Urtha." Urtha cast a glance at Molly suspiciously, wondering if she was actually the sweet girl she was acting like. "Final vote and second person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Urtha. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Urtha froze, then looked around as she stood up. "I don't know what you were all thinking, nor do I really want to know." She said as she grabbed her torch.

"U-Urtha…" Nelson whimpered.

"It's okay, Nelson. Win this for the both of us, okay?" Urtha said as she walked over to SSBFreak, whom held the snuffer in his hands.

"Urtha, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Urtha's torch. "It's time for you to go."

Urtha cast another suspicious glance at Molly, then left without a word.

Once Urtha had left, SSBFreak turned to the rest of the tribe. "I don't know your reasoning, but you just voted out your strongest player. All I can say is that strength doesn't mean you're automatically safe." He explained. "We'll see if your decision will come back to haunt you, because I have a feeling we'll all find out soon. You can all head back to camp."

With that, the Opito Tribe stood up, gathered their torches and left the hut. Molly walked ahead of everyone, pleased with herself for putting together the plan. She walked ahead of everyone else for the sole reason of not wanting to let anyone see the evil smirk she was giving as she walked back to camp…

"_Second off is not the best thing to happen, especially with me being as strong as I am. Logically, I should still be back there." Urtha sighed. "I don't know what happened back there, but I have a feeling I ended up on the wrong tribe for them to just vote me off like that. I just wish I knew who the one responsible was…"_

**Voting History:**

**Urtha – Ginny, Jack, Mason, Molly and Roscoe**

**Molly – Brick, Nelson, Shamus and Urtha**

Author's notes: And so Urtha leaves second and the first one voted out of Opito. I knew Urtha wouldn't be lasting long when I cast her, so I needed some way to get rid of her logically. I decided on having her be a victim to Molly.


	4. Days 7 to 9

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_My plan worked. I was able to pin some blame on Urtha and get a few others to vote for her. It wasn't unanimous, but it was enough to keep me in the game." Molly said with a smirk. "I know we just voted out our strongest player, but I needed SOMEONE to blame for our loss and, let's face it, no one wanted to go against Urtha one-on-one."_

"W-What were you guys thinking?!" Nelson demanded, still in shock. "Urtha was our strongest player! Why'd you guys vote her out?!"

"We were suspicious that she was throwing the challenges to keep us from relying on her." Jack replied. "Now that I think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense."

"Why would Urtha throw the challenges?!" Nelson asked. "Who the heck told you guys?!"

"Mason did, actually." Roscoe pointed out. "He told us that he had this hunch about Urtha and we couldn't think of a reason to not believe him."

Shamus folded his arms and cast a suspicious glance at Molly, whom was at the fire pit with Mason.

"_There's no way that muscle-bound soldier is capable of such a complex thought. That Molly girl must've told him and he relayed the message to Jack and Roscoe." Shamus said. "My suspicions on that girl are higher than ever and now I'm certain that she's not what she wants us to think. I still need more proof, though. Even with this, the only person we can logically blame is Mason…"_

"So what do we do, now?" Shamus asked. "Thanks to you, we're now without our strongest player."

"We've still got Mason." Jack shrugged.

Shamus lifted an eyebrow. "Do you even realize what you're saying, lad?" He asked.

Jack blinked. "Oh, yeah."

"_Urtha's been my friend ever since the game started, and now she's gone for reasons that don't even make any sense!" Nelson said. "I mean, why would those two believe Mason, of all people, that Urtha was throwing challenges?! I just hope that those guys didn't screw us over for future challenges."_

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 7)**

"_We've been out her a week. One-fifth of the total amount of days in the competition. I'm feeling good considering that the teams are even by now." Oiler said. "When we lost that first Immunity, I thought we'd be losing them all, but then we end up winning the next one. I just hope this good luck continues."_

Oiler was at the beach, scratching his back using his own arm, when he noticed Janine coming over, probably to talk to him. "Morning, Janine." He greeted. "Sleep well?"

"Well, Anita didn't have that nightmare last night, so we all got a better night's sleep." Janine replied.

"Who do you think Opito voted out last night?"

"Logically, it would be the Jinjo girl." Janine shrugged. "She's the weakest member of the team."

"Does being weak make you someone that can be booted early?" The test dummy asked.

"Yes, but it also makes you a good person to keep around mid-game."

"_I realize that I need to form an official alliance if I want to survive past the merge. My strength makes me a threat, and I need someone I can trust to have my back when we reach that point." Janine said. "Oiler's the perfect candidate. He's not weak, but not strong enough to be considered a threat."_

"Oiler, I'd like to make you an offer at an alliance." Janine said as she sat down on the beach beside the test dummy.

"An alliance?"

"Yes. I need some help in surviving the game." Janine replied. "My strength makes me a threat at the merge, and I don't want to get eliminated then."

"So you want to join me and help me to survive out here as well?" Oiler asked.

"As long as we're both in the game, we'll have each other's backs. Okay?"

"Okay. Sounds good to me."

As Oiler and Janine talked, a couple of beady eyes poked above the surface of the water and blinked a couple of times. Neither of the others noticed them.

"_I was taking my morning swim when I overheard Oiler and Janine talking about alliances. I wonder if they even knew I was there when they started talking." Krash scratched his head. "Does this mean I should be worried that I'm not in an alliance or hopeful that I can get in on theirs?"_

**(Opito Tribe; Day 7)**

Brick looked around the camp for someone. Passing Jack and Roscoe, the Lego man walked towards the smaller island.

"_I've been curious ever since we got back from Tribal Council. Ginny looked pretty mad on the way there and pleased when we left. I couldn't ask her about it because she was asleep almost instantly after we got back." Brick said, scratching his head. "I know that she was one of the people that voted out Urtha, so I gotta find out what her reasoning was."_

"Hey, Ginny? You out here?" Brick called out, walking across the short bridge to the small island attached to the mainland. "Look, I wanna ask you something and I know you're here somewhere."

"Oh! Hey, Brick!"

Brick looked up and saw that Ginny in a tree, was using her blue powder again, this time on a piece of fruit. Seeing Brick, Ginny jumped down and landed on her feet.

"What's up?" Ginny asked.

"I was wondering why you voted for Urtha." Brick said. "You seemed pretty peeved about something on the way to Tribal Council."

Ginny frowned. "I found out that she hated the colour blue. I make it my mission to take revenge on those with such narrow minds." She replied.

Brick could only stare dumbfounded.

"_When Molly told me that Urtha was one of those blue-haters, I wasn't about to let her live it down." Ginny pointed out. "I had the option to either vote her out or keep her and make her regret her choice, but I decided on the former because I couldn't think of enough ways to make Urtha regret hating blue."_

"There you are! Ginny, we need to talk!" Roscoe said as he and Jack came across the bridge.

"Oh, whatever do you mean?" Ginny asked innocently.

"You turned our treemail box blue!" Jack snapped. "What is it with your colour obsession, anyway?!"

"It's not an obsession! It's a way of life!"

"_It's hard keeping that woman in check, especially since she's got that stupid powder of hers." Roscoe rolled his eyes. "If this keeps up, our entire camp's gonna be blue and then she'll start using the powder on us. Hey, I happen to LIKE my fur being gray!"_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Today I made a stunning realization: I'm in an alliance of three. W-While that's good, it's not a majority." Anita explained. "It's n-nice to have people you can trust in a game like this, but that d-doesn't mean anything if you don't have the numbers."_

"So what now?" Anita asked as she, Lynn and Ruth sat around the fire pit. "We should p-probably be thinking about how we can outlast some of the others here."

"Yeah. I mean, it's just the three of us." Lynn added, scratching her head.

"The only way we can become a majority alliance is to get more members." Ruth replied.

"_Anita, Lynn and I make up an alliance, but we'd still be outnumbered if we went to Tribal Council." Ruth explained. "What we need is a couple of swing votes to join forces with us, and I have an idea on where to look for them."_

"I think that Oiler and Vikki would be willing to join forces with us if the time came for it." Ruth suggested.

"I think that'd probably be the best course of action." Lynn nodded. "The strong players have been hanging around each other a fair bit."

"We'll try talking to them, then." Ruth nodded. "They seem to have been on the outskirts of the tribe anyway."

Anita flashed a shy smile. "I…I hope this works." She said.

"_I can't overlook the f-fact that I'm a liability, even if I'm s-stronger than someone like Ruth. I know they won't k-keep me because my nightmares will keep them up." Anita sighed. "I need a m-majority alliance more than anyone else at this point."_

"_Joining Oiler and Vikki would be good for numbers, but it does nothing good if we go to Tribal Council." Lynn pointed out. "I mean, who does that leave to vote out; Charlotte, Janine and Krash, all three of whom make up the strongest part of the team. We've already voted out a strong player, so I don't know if voting out another so soon would be a good idea."_

As the three woman continued to talk, they failed to notice the beret-wearing brunette standing just inside the jungle, watching them from behind a tree. Charlotte folded her arms and put an unamused look on her face.

**(Opito Tribe)**

Molly walked across the bridge connecting to the small island and looked around. The Minjo saw that she was alone and sat down on a rock, looking deep in thought.

"_My first attempt to save myself from elimination was successful, but I don't think it'll work a second time. This means that I should try and lobby to vote out the weakest member aside from me. That's Brick." Molly explained. "However, there's a snag in that plan; everyone LOVES Brick. I don't know why, but they do. This will make it harder for me to survive, but not impossible."_

"How am I going to do this? If I target a strong player again, people will get suspicious." Molly said. "Maybe I can get the others to vote out Ginny or Jack or Roscoe…"

Meanwhile, Nelson sat on the beach, alone, drawing ghosts in the sand with a stick. Hearing someone approaching him, the lanky nerd looked to his right and saw Mason coming over.

Mason scratched his head as he looked at the large and highly-detailed drawing of a marshmallow man towering over a skyscraper Nelson had just drawn. "Man. If you used effort like that in working out, you'd be in amazing shape by now." He said.

Nelson lifted an eyebrow at the backhanded compliment before deciding not to bother. "Mason, why Urtha? She was our strongest player." He asked.

"_Can you really blame me for still feeling a little let-down? My only real friend got ousted because of some stupid rumour that wasn't even true." Nelson sighed. "I want to know who could come up with such a thing to blame Urtha on, because they'd have to be either really stupid or an evil genius."_

"She was throwing games, man. She knew that we'd be depending on her, and she didn't want that." Mason shrugged before grinning. "Not that we really needed her, though. I'm just as strong as she is because of my years of experience." He tried to emphasize his point by flexing his muscles.

Nelson lifted an eyebrow and returned to his drawing. He'd have a better time drawing than listening to Mason, anyway…

"_No one's been taking me seriously, and I have no idea why. I mean, I'm just as strong as Urtha was, and I'm just trying to protect someone that needs my help to survive." Mason pointed out. "I'm the best at what I do, but the problem is making the other guys on my tribe realize that. I don't know how this could be so hard, though…"_

Eventually, night rolled in. Everyone went to sleep, knowing that they'd have a big day ahead of them…

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 8)**

"_Survivor is just what it says: A game of survival. You're constantly thrown against odds and if you can overcome those obstacles, you have a chance at winning." Charlotte explained. "I've come across my first major obstacle in this game of survival: A strong alliance of three members. Of course, the only way to successfully combat such an obstacle is to have an alliance of your own."_

"Krash, you need to help me." Charlotte explained. "It is important now more than ever."

"Why do you want to focus on their alliance, anyway?' Krash asked, pointing at Anita, Lynn and Ruth. "I mean, I don't see anything wrong with it."

"The problem is that they're in a tightly-knit alliance and they have power." Charlotte replied. "If we let them go too far, they'll overtake us. We need to stir things up before we get eliminated."

"So…We're basically doing now what they'd be doing later?" Krash checked. Charlotte didn't answer him.

"_I don't get this whole thing about alliances being trouble. And if Charlotte wants to take them out, what makes her methods different?" Krash shrugged. "I try not to think about these sorts of things, because they tend to blow my mind. Is there something about this I'm not getting, because I've been lost for a few days now…"_

Meanwhile, Janine had gone to check on treemail, only to see that Vikki was already at the box. The cavewoman walked over as the cowgirl pulled a letter from the box.

"Treemail?" Janine asked.

"Looks like it, partner." Vikki said as she scanned over the letter. "It don't say what the challenge is, though."

"We'll find out soon enough."

Janine and Vikki walked back to camp, where Vikki waved the letter around. "We got treemail, partners!" She called out, getting everyone's attention.

"What's it say?" Anita asked.

"It's asking if there is anyone on our tribe that ISN'T good at trivia." Vikki replied.

"A trivia challenge." Charlotte lifted an eyebrow. "This is good. We can definitely do this."

"I sure hope so, partner." Vikki shook her head.

"_I don't like the sound of this, partner. I mean, I don't know how many smart people we've got, but I know we've got a couple of people not as good with trivia, and I'm pretty sure we can cross Krash off for sure." Vikki sighed. "I just hope that the other team has as hard of a time as we are."_

**(Opito Tribe, Day 8)**

"_My tribe seems to be mad at me that I got Jack and Roscoe to vote out Urtha, but hey, I was protecting a defenseless creature! It's what soldiers like me do!" Mason insisted. "Even still, these odds aren't impossible. You should have seen me when I was running a gauntlet of Locust and my chainsaw died on me…"_

"I don't get it. Nelson gets uncomfortable around me and Shamus seems disappointed." Mason shook his head. "You guys know what I did was right, right?"

"Heck, yeah. Urtha was throwing challenges, and she paid for it." Roscoe shrugged. "I don't see why those guys are taking it so badly."

"Well, we DID get rid of our strongest player." Jack pointed out.

"What are you talking about? I'm still here." Mason interjected.

Jack and Roscoe looked at Mason strangely before turning back to each other. "As I was saying, we DID vote out our strongest player." Jack continued.

Mason pouted.

"_Mason needs to get over himself. I mean, we put up with his annoying banter on how he's survived impossible odds, but there's only going to be so much we can take." Jack folded his arms. "Unlike Marty, my best friend, I'd actually have the guts to tell Mason what I thought about his bantering, but I have more troubles with Ginny, so Mason seems normal by comparison."_

"We've got treemail!" Ginny sang as she came into camp, waving a blue letter around. Everyone stared at her strangely.

"You used some of your blue powder on the letter, didn't you?" Roscoe asked flatly.

"And now it's the most beautiful letter I've ever seen." Ginny giggled as she looked at the note in her hands. "It says 'Who on your tribe ISN'T good at trivia'?" She read.

"Great. A trivia challenge." Brick moaned. "I always hated those things."

"I think we've still got an advantage." Nelson replied. "I think we can get more correct than the other tribe."

"We can always hope, lad." Shamus added.

"_At least this challenge isn't anything physical, otherwise we'd be at a huge disadvantage. Thankfully, this is a trivia challenge and I'm one of the smartest players here." Nelson said, tapping his head. "Let them try to throw a curveball at me. I'm ready for anything they try."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Eleda Tribe stood on their mat at the beach, waiting for the Opito Tribe to make their entrance. SSBFreak stood nearby.

"Okay, before we start, let's bring out the Opito Tribe." SSBFreak explained.

The Eleda Tribe looked as their opposing tribe came out from the jungle. Everyone looked flabbergasted when they saw who wasn't still among them.

"Urtha was voted out at the last Tribal Council." SSBFreak explained.

"Y'all are crazy!!" Vikki shouted.

"Tell me about it." Nelson rolled his eyes.

"Welcome to your second Reward Challenge. For this challenge, we're going to test your knowledge on generic trivia, but we're doing this with a twist." SSBFreak explained. "For every question you get right, you can eliminate someone on the opposing team. Getting wrong answers mean nothing in this round of trivia, so keeping the people that get answers wrong all of the time may be a good thing in this case." He explained, noticing the stunned look on some of the contestants' faces. "The team that still has at least one person standing at the end wins Reward, which is a fishing rod, something I'm sure all of you are wishing you'd have by now."

The survivors looked excited at this news. Both tribes were in dire need of the prize being offered.

"If you'll all take a seat, we can begin."

The sixteen players walked over to the provided set of sixteen stumps and sat down. They all realized that they each had three cards.

"Keep in mind that there are three possible answers for each question. Hold up A, B or C to answer the questions." SSBFreak explained. "Okay, for Reward, here's the first question…"

Everyone waited in anticipation.

"The TV show Wipeout is based on a similar-styled Japanese obstacle course show. What is it?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Unbeatable Banzuke, B: Takeshi's Castle, C: Majide."

Everyone eventually held up their answer. There was a wide variety in answers.

"The correct answer is B: Takeshi's Castle. Nelson, Jack and Brick got it right for Opito, while Anita and Oiler are the only ones on Eleda to get it right." SSBFreak explained. "Opito, who are you eliminating?"

"Anita." Nelson said.

"Oiler." Jack added.

"Uh…Ruth." Brick finished.

"Eleda?" SSBFreak asked.

Anita narrowed her eyes. "Nelson."

"Jack." Oiler finished.

"Okay, guys. Come over her and stand with me." SSBFreak said. "You're all out."

As the five eliminated contestants walked over to join the host, the others remained sitting for the next question.

"Other than Moe, who is the only member of the Three Stooges to last the entire career?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Curly, B: Shemp, C: Larry."

The contestants held up their answers again. Once again, there was a variety.

"The correct answer is C: Larry. Ginny and Brick got it right for Opito, while Vikki, Janine and Charlotte got it right for Eleda." SSBFreak explained. "Opito, who's getting eliminated?"

"Janine! She's not wearing blue!"

Brick sat in silence, staring at Ginny oddly. "Uh…Charlotte."

"Eleda, your turn."

"Ginny." Janine folded her arms.

"Brick." Charlotte added.

"Molly." Vikki finished.

The eliminated contestants left the field. This left, Mason, Shamus and Roscoe on Opito, and Vikki, Krash and Lynn for Eleda.

"The numbers are dwindling fast, so let's keep going. In the video game console war, there was a huge rivalry between the three main mascots. In addition to Mario and Sonic, who was the third?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Pac-Man, B: Crash Bandicoot, C: Megaman."

The answers quickly went up this time. The numbers were still varied, but no one had picked C.

"The correct answer is B: Crash Bandicoot. Shamus and Lynn are the only ones to get it right." SSBFreak explained.

"In that case, I'm eliminating her." Shamus said.

Lynn narrowed her eyes. "Not cool man. Right back at you."

"There are now two people left on each team." SSBFreak explained as Shamus and Lynn left the field. "It's still anyone's game, so let's keep going…"

"How many seasons of the Amazing Race have there been?" SSBFreak asked. "A: 15, B: 14, C: 16."

The answers went up again. Vikki and Roscoe were holding up A's, while Krash was holding up a B and Mason a C.

"The correct answer is A: 15. Since Roscoe and Vikki got it right, I'm assuming that you're eliminating each other." SSBFreak said.

"You got it, mac." Roscoe nodded.

"Definitely, partner." Vikki nodded.

As Roscoe and Vikki left the field, everyone was suddenly aware of the two people that were still in the game: Mason and Krash.

"We're down to two people. If one of you guys answers right and the other answers wrong, we'll have a winner." SSBFreak said. "Here's the next question."

Mason tensed up and Krash swallowed.

"When did Columbus sail the seas and discover America?" SSBFreak asked. "A: 1564, B: 1492, C: 1887."

Mason and Krash held up their answers and they were both A's.

"The correct answer is B: 1492. You both gave the same answer, but it hardly matters since you both got it wrong." SSBFreak explained. "Okay. We'll try this again."

"What is a trachea?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Bug, B: Flower, C: Body Part."

Mason and Krash held up A's, although Mason took a moment's hesitation to do so.

"The correct answer is C: Body Part, and you, once again, both got it wrong." SSBFreak shook his head. "Let's keep going…"

"What type of disease can you contract from a certain type of mosquito?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Malaria, B: Pox, C: Influenza?"

Mason and Krash held up different answers this time. Mason held up a B and Krash a C.

"The correct answer is A: Malaria. You got it wrong again." SSBFreak rolled his eyes.

"Remain focused, Krash! It's not impossible!" Charlotte shouted.

"Come on, Mason! You can totally beat him!" Brick said.

"Here's the next question: What is a Red Snapper?" The host asked. "A: Turtle, B: Fish, C: Beetle."

Mason held up an A and Krash nervously held up a C.

"The correct answer is B: Fish. You're both wrong." SSBFreak explained with a sigh.

Mason growled in frustration, not believing that such a simple trivia challenge could be so difficult. Krash, on the other hand, looked downright miserable, looking like he was about to break down.

"We need to continue with the next question: Who was the winner of season 17 of the real Survivor?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Yul Kwon, B: Earl Cole, C: Bob Crowley."

Mason and Krash held up their answers after thinking. Mason was holding up a B and Krash was holding up a C.

"Survivor 17 was Gabon, and the winner was Bob Crowley. You both got it-" SSBFreak said before doing a double-take. "Oh! Wait! Krash got it right!"

Krash, his eyes wide, dropped his tablets to the ground. "W-What?" He asked.

"Eleda wins Reward!" SSBFreak announced as the Eleda Tribe cheered for Krash.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward again, Eleda. The fishing rod is now yours." SSBFreak said as he handed Krash the fishing rod and looked at the disappointed losing tribe. "Opito Tribe, I have nothing for you except a hope that you guys can make up for your losses in the next Immunity Challenge."

Stepping back, SSBFreak looked at the two tribes. "I'll see you all tomorrow at the challenge, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Sweet! We won us a fishing rod! We haven't had much luck catching fish lately, and we think the fish have gotten tired of having Oiler's fingers as bait." Lynn shrugged. "Man, that challenge was close, though. We're lucky that Krash came through for us, but we noticed that he didn't seem that happy on the way back to camp."_

"Something wrong, Krash?" Ruth asked as she and Lynn came walking over to where the Kremling was sitting by himself. Anita would have come as well, but Oiler was teaching her how to fish with the new fishing rod.

"N-Nah. It's…It's fine." Krash shook his head as he just stared out at the ocean.

Ruth sighed and sat down beside him. "Krash, don't lie. We know something's bothering you."

Krash paused, then sighed. "I completely humiliated myself out there." He replied.

"Dude, how'd you humiliate yourself? You won the challenge!" Lynn explained.

"Yeah. By answering one question right after numerous wrong answers." Krash replied.

"_I know that Kremlings aren't the smartest of species, but I just hate being reminded of it all the time." Krash sighed. "To answer so many questions wrong was bad enough. Doing it while being recorded just made it feel even worse."_

"I felt so stupid! Nothing I answered was right!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself man. Like I said, you won us the challenge." Lynn reminded.

"But it took me so long to come up with a right answer, and even then I guessed." Krash sighed.

"The important thing is that you got the question right." Ruth explained. "Now come on. Let's go see if Oiler and Anita have caught anything."

Krash paused, then nodded as he got up. "Okay."

"_Krash is far too hard on himself. None of us were expecting him to do especially well in trivia, so seeing him win in the end was a pleasant surprise in itself." Ruth explained. "And at least we can take some sort of comfort in knowing that there's another guy on the other tribe with problems even worse than Krash's."_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"Mason, I can't believe you actually let that happen." Roscoe moaned. "You freaking let a KREMLING beat you in a trivia challenge!"

"So? Maybe he's just a smart Kremling." Mason shrugged.

"_We lost Reward thanks to Mason and now everyone is angry at him for losing to a Kremling, of all people." Molly rolled her eyes. "Normally, I'd just let him get voted off, but I'm not done with him yet. I need to find a way to shift attention from Mason now, but at the moment, I don't have anyone I can target."_

"Hey, he tried his hardest, didn't he?" Molly asked sweetly.

"If that's his hardest, I'm almost afraid to find out what his worst is." Jack shook his head.

Nelson, his arms folded, shook his head. "What's done is done. We could have benefited from a trivia challenge where you need a right answer to stay in the game." He said. "I know some of us would have done better if we hadn't been taken out so early."

"He's got a point. The whole elimination thing threw us all for a loop." Brick scratched his head.

"_I was trying to be a voice of reason. Yes, I'm still mad at Mason for getting Urtha kicked off, but if this much blame is being thrown around, our tribe will destroy itself." Nelson pointed out. "I know that people will vote Mason off for losing a challenge like that in the way he did, and they already voted off our other strongest player. We can't afford to lose another."_

"At least we can take comfort in knowing that this at least wasn't the Immunity Challenge." Nelson pointed out. "We need to put all of our focus into winning tomorrow's challenge."

"I'm with him. We're not getting anywhere by casting blame." Shamus agreed.

"Thanks. It's good to see that SOME of you have my back."

"It WAS a pretty stupid way to lose a challenge, though." Brick said.

"The questions were hard!"

_Jack sat in front of the camera, then slapped himself on the forehead._

"_These guys just don't understand how much pressure I was in! I haven't been under that much pressure since I was forced to fight a huge Locust warrior with a spork and a dislocated arm!" Mason said. "I just fell to it and answered wrong! Seriously, it's no big deal!"_

Eventually, night came around. Knowing that they had another challenge the following day, both tribes were soon asleep to be ready for it.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 9)**

"_We're going to be having another challenge today and we know it'll be Immunity." Charlotte explained. "I need to be prepared for this. We got lucky at the Reward Challenge, but we need to anticipate anything. That's why I'm going to recruit some people before we go to the challenge just in case we lose."_

"Vikki, I need your help." Charlotte explained.

"What is it?" Vikki asked.

"I want to split the alliance between Anita, Lynn and Ruth." Charlotte explained. "Krash is already on board and I wanted to solidify a few more votes just in case we went to Tribal Council."

"Why do you guys wanna get rid of them?" Vikki scratched her head.

"Their alliance is getting too tightly-knit." Charlotte replied. "If we leave them alone for too long, they'll have the majority."

"Well…Okay, I'll think about it."

Charlotte nodded. "I appreciate it."

"_The funny thing is that little ol' me has had both alliances come to me, asking for support." Vikki said with a grin. She gave a wink. "I dunno which alliance I'd vote for, but maybe I could fly under the radar by playing the swing vote. All I need to do is vote for whoever I feel like and people will keep me around."_

All of a sudden, a shrill scream erupted throughout the camp, startling everyone awake. They quickly found the source of the scream and found themselves gathered around a sobbing and terrified Anita, whom was curled into a ball and rocking back and forth.

"Anita, did you have that nightmare again?" Ruth asked.

Anita, too scared to reply, nodded her head.

"I don't suppose you wanna tell us about it, do you?" Krash asked. Anita shook her head rapidly. "Didn't think so."

"I wonder what the heck happened to make her this scared." Janine pondered.

Oiler came into camp, and looked around uneasily. "Uh…Is this a bad time to tell you guys that we got treemail?" He asked, holding up a letter.

Everyone else in the tribe looked at Oiler angrily.

_Oiler stood with his back facing the camera, but his head was still looking at the screen, showing that his head was on backwards. "Okay. That wasn't the best thing to say, so I suppose I was asking for it." He admitted._

**(Opito Tribe; Day 9)**

"Hey, Brick! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Molly asked as she walked over to the Lego man.

"_We're having Immunity today and I need to prepare just in case we lose. I need to get some more votes to keep Mason safe because I'm not done with him yet." Molly explained. "Thankfully, I may have an idea on who to target next. Ginny was easy to get to vote out Urtha, but I know the others are starting to get annoyed at her antics."_

"I know Ginny's been annoying everyone with her obsession with blue." Molly told Brick. "I mean, you have to admit that we'd sleep a little easier knowing we wouldn't have the risk of waking up blue, right?"

"Why are you so intent on getting my vote?" Brick asked. "You trying to save Mason?"

"Mason's trying to help me through the game. I can't do this without him." Molly looked at the ground, hoping to get some sympathy points.

"I guess it makes sense." Brick shrugged. "But I think you should talk to Jack and Roscoe about it. They're the ones that have to put up with Ginny all of the time."

Molly nodded. "I really appreciate it, Brick."

"_Molly makes a good point. Ginny's kinda been weirding us all out for a while." Brick scratched his head. "I mean, I wouldn't mind things looking a little less-" Something suddenly caught Brick's attention as he looked straight ahead. "Uh…Dude, is that a new camera? I've never seen one that blue…"_

"We've got treemail." Shamus announced as he came walking into camp.

"The Immunity Challenge?" Jack asked.

"Aye. It says 'Who's a capable leader'?" Shamus read.

"_If you ask me, that wasn't really the smartest question to open up with. I can guarantee you that half of the tribe, myself included, would have been all over that if the stakes weren't so high." Jack sighed and folded his arms. "I guess we'll have to see what type of challenge it is before we decide who will be the 'leader'."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two tribes came walking out into a clearing in the jungle and walked over to the two mats on the ground. The tribes stepped onto their respective mats and waited for the host to commence the challenge.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we're going to see which of you can direct the other members of the team." SSBFreak explained. "One team member of each tribe will be carried around this clearing, giving directions to the four blindfolded people carrying them around. Scattered around this clearing are six sacks of letters, three for each tribe and coloured according to your tribal colour. The object is that the leader has to direct the team around to collect all three of their bags and carry them back to the remaining three members of the tribe, whom will then unscramble the letters inside to come up with the winning phrase. The winning tribe will win Immunity from tonight's Tribal Council."

The tribes looked at each other, as if trying to decide who would be the important team leader.

"I'll give you guys a few minutes to figure out who's doing what and then we can start." SSBFreak explained.

**(Later…)**

The players had been chosen. Brick and Oiler were chosen to be the leaders, and were sitting on the wooden platform being carried by the blindfolded players. For Opito, the carriers were Mason, Shamus, Jack and Roscoe, while the carriers of Eleda were Charlotte, Janine, Krash and Lynn. This left the solvers for Opito to be Molly, Ginny and Nelson while the solvers of Eleda were Ruth, Vikki and Anita. Anita, trying to concentrate, was still visibly shaken.

"Okay, for Immunity, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The two teams took off, the leaders sitting atop the platforms as they were being carried.

"Okay, guys. Keep going straight." Oiler instructed. The Eleda carriers started walking, but Charlotte and Janine were walking a little faster and it was starting to make Krash and Lynn stumble. "Charlotte! Janine! Not so fast!"

"We need to hurry if we want to win, comrade!" Charlotte shot back.

"It'll be hard to win if the platform I'm on collapses!" Oiler countered.

Meanwhile, Brick was managing to get his carriers to go at a reasonable pace, but not too fast that Brick couldn't see what was coming. "Shamus, you're coming up to a log. Watch out." He warned.

The Opito carriers slowed down as Shamus was able to find the log he was heading towards. The pirate quickly stepped over it and continued to move with the rest of the carriers.

"The first bag's straight ahead." Brick explained. "I'll tell you where to go."

Meanwhile, the Eleda Tribe was starting to get back on track and the carriers were moving at the same speed this time so no one would be pulled ahead.

"Where's the closest bag, Oiler?" Lynn asked. "We've gotta be getting close."

"Turn right." Oiler instructed. "The other team is going towards another one and I don't think it'd be wise to start a race when the teams can't see."

Brick looked back and saw the Eleda Tribe going in another direction. "They're not following us." He noted.

"They don't wanna cause an accident by getting in the way." Jack replied. "Now focus on the task, kid!"

"Oh! Right!" Brick nodded as he looked ahead. "We're heading right for it. Try picking up the pace a little and I'll tell you when to stop."

The Opito carriers did as they were told and started moving a little faster, still at the same pace so they didn't drop the platform Brick was sitting on.

The two teams moved towards their first bag, but because the Opito Tribe had picked up the pace, they reached the bag long before the Eleda Tribe did. Brick quickly scooped up the bag and set it beside him on the platform.

"The Opito Tribe has their first bag!" SSBFreak announced.

"Oiler, are we almost there?" Janine asked. "We're taking a long time to get one bag."

"We're nearly there." Oiler assured.

"Can we go faster?" Lynn asked. "Going this slow can't be good."

"I'm with her." Charlotte replied. "We need to speed up."

Olier hesitated, but nodded. "Okay. Just keep going straight, but make sure you're all going at the same speed." He explained.

The Eleda Tribe picked up the pace, but by the time they did, the Opito Tribe was already on their way to the second bag.

"Just bear to the left a little, guys." Brick explained.

"Where IS it?" Mason asked, looking around.

"It's off in the corner of the playing field." Brick replied. "Just follow my directions and we'll get there soon enough."

"I almost tripped on a rock back there, man." Roscoe pointed out. "Make sure you point those out as well."

The two teams continued to move towards their bags. The Eleda Tribe managed to reach their first bag, but by the time they did, the Opito Tribe was already a good portion of the way over to their second. Oiler, ignoring this, grabbed the first bag.

"The Eleda Tribe ties it up and gets their first bag!" SSBFreak announced.

"Crap! Our lead's gone!" Jack cursed.

"No it isn't." Brick reminded. "We've still got a head-start on them."

Oiler looked around and spotted the next-closest bag. "Okay, guys! We need to turn around!" He said. "Start turning to the left!"

The Eleda carriers started turning, but as they did, Krash turned a little too fast and hit his head on the platform. This threw the other three carriers off slightly, but they were able to regain their balance.

"Not so fast, Krash!" Oiler warned.

"Sorry." Krash murmured.

Jack stepped around a rock he had been told was underfoot and continued walking. "Okay, Brick. I'm over. Now what?" He asked.

"Keep going straight! It's right there!" Brick pointed out.

"Want us to go faster, lad?" Shamus asked.

"As long as you stop when I say so, then sure."

The Opito Tribe started moving even faster now. Brick kept a keen eye on the bag as the carriers approached it.

"Okay, stop!" Brick shouted.

The Opito carriers stopped instantly, although Mason nearly stumbled a step. Brick, now right beside the bag, easily scooped it up and placed it beside the first bag.

"Opito now has two bags! Only one more and they can return to the solvers!" SSBFreak said.

"Where's the third bag?" Mason asked.

Brick looked around and spotted the final bag. "It's not that far away!" He announced. "Everyone turn to your right!"

"They've got their second bag!" Krash said. "This isn't good!"

"Focus on the task, Krash! Ignore everything else!" Charlotte ordered.

"We're almost there, guys! Keep going straight!" Oiler pointed out.

"I still think we're going too slow, man!" Lynn said.

"We don't want to go too fast!" Oiler warned. "If you guys drop me, it'll take forever to get back on track!"

"But we're already way behind." Lynn stated.

Meanwhile, the Opito Tribe was still moving towards the third bag. However, that was when Brick noticed that they were walking towards a stump that was blocking the bag and if they kept going straight, they'd run into it.

"We're going to have to go around something, guys." Brick said.

"What's wrong?" Shamus asked.

"The third bag's behind a stump and we're coming at it from the wrong angle." Brick replied. "Turn to the left slightly, guys. We'll make a circle and pick it up then."

"At least we found out ahead of time before we ran into the thing." Roscoe shook his head.

The two tribes looked neck-and-neck with each other as they moved towards their targeted bags. In the end, the Eleda Tribe managed to win the footrace to the bag. The carriers came to a stop and Oiler grabbed the second bag.

"The Eleda Tribe has tied the game up again! They've got their second bag!" SSBFreak announced.

However, before any of the Eleda Tribe had time to react, the Opito Tribe had managed to circle the stump and arrive at their third bag. Once the carriers had stopped, Brick grabbed the bag and placed it onto the platform.

"The Opito Tribe is done collecting bags!" SSBFreak announced. "Now they need to return to the starting line and pass the bags off to the solvers!"

"Come on, guys!" Nelson cheered. "We're way ahead!"

"Turn left a little and we'll be facing the starting line, guys!" Brick directed.

"We're way behind." Janine shook her head. "We need to pick up the pace."

"Oiler, where is the third bag?" Charlotte asked.

"Turn to the right!" Oiler pointed out.

"You can still pull this off, partners!" Vikki said. "The others have a ways to go to get here!"

As the Eleda Tribe continued to move towards their third bag, the Opito Tribe was already moving towards the starting line. The Opito Tribe indeed has a ways to go, but the carriers were moving fairly fast.

"Come on! You're almost here!" Molly said.

"Is there anything in the way, Brick?" Jack asked.

"Uh…No?" Brick asked after looking.

"Gentlemen, start your engines!" Jack shouted.

Jack, Mason, Shamus and Roscoe instantly started running, making a mad dash for the startling line. Brick screamed and gripped the platform he was on as best as he could, and in a matter of seconds the Opito Tribe was across the starting line. "Stop! You guys are across!" He shouted.

The Opito carriers quickly stopped, promptly flinging Brick from the platform and causing the carriers to drop the platform to the ground.

"The Opito Tribe is across the startling line and the solvers can now work on their puzzle!" SSBFreak announced.

Nelson shook his head as he grabbed the bags of letters. "You guys could have thought that through a little better." He said.

"Hey! It worked, didn't it?" Jack asked with a smirk.

"Guys, come on! The Opito Tribe just crossed!" Ruth called out.

"Seriously?!" Krash asked. "We gotta hurry!"

Charlotte narrowed her eyes behind her blindfold. "I agree. Oiler, we're running!" She said.

"No! Don't run!" Oiler said.

"Where's the third bag?!" Charlotte asked.

"Slightly to the left and straight ahead, but-"

That was all Oiler got out before his tribe took off running. Krash and Lynn looked like they were struggling to keep up with Charlotte and Janine, but they were keeping it together.

In the meantime, the Opito solvers dumped the letters out onto the ground as they stood in front of their board. The three inspected the letters and scratched their heads.

"What do you make of it?" Nelson asked.

"Could it be 'Immunity'?" Molly asked.

"There's no Y in the jumble." Nelson shook his head.

"How about 'Blue'?" Ginny asked hopefully.

Nelson and Molly looked at the blue-haired woman strangely. "It's too short of a word, Ginny." Nelson replied finally.

"Besides, there's no B either." Molly added.

"Then I don't care what it is." Ginny folded her arms.

Anita watched as the solvers continued to work and bit her lip. "I-I think we may be in trouble." She said.

"The others are approaching the third bag now." Ruth explained. "As long as we don't take long in solving, we may have a chance."

"Come on, y'all!" Vikki called out.

Meanwhile, the Eleda Tribe had just managed to come across their third bag. Oiler managed to see it in time and got his carriers to stop. The test dummy quickly grabbed the third bag.

"Eleda has the third bag! It's anyone's game!" SSBFreak said.

"Turn around!" Oiler instructed. "The starting line's behind us!"

The Opito solvers continued to inspect their letters, wondering what the answer could be. Molly noticed a pattern and pointed it out. "I think 'WINNING' is in there." She said.

"That leaves four letters." Nelson replied before his eyes widened. "Wait! I have an idea!"

Nelson quickly scooped up the letters and placed them on the board in order. When he was done, the letters spelled 'WINNING TEAM'.

"I think we're done over here!" Nelson said.

SSBFreak looked at Opito's board and gave a nod. "That's it! The challenge is over!" He said. "Opito wins Immunity!"

The Opito Tribe cheered as the Eleda carriers stopped in their tracks. They ripped off their blindfolds and saw that the challenge was indeed over. The losing team groaned in disbelief.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Opito. You're all safe tonight." SSBFreak told the proud winning team before turning to the losing team. "Eleda, I'll be seeing you tonight at Tribal Council, where you guys will be voting off one of your own again. I'll give you the rest of the day to make up your minds about who to vote off."

SSBFreak looked at everyone. "You can all head back to camp."

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"Well, that sucked." Lynn moaned. "We were nowhere close to beating them."

"What's done is done." Ruth shook her head. "What we need to focus on now is who to vote off."

"B-But who do we go for?" Anita stuttered.

"I think Oiler." Ruth replied.

"_We totally could have kept up with the other team if Oiler wasn't so paranoid that we'd crash. In a way, I think his warnings may have cost us the win." Lynn pointed out. "Hey, he doesn't seem to be aligned with anyone, so we may be able to get some backup with this vote."_

"We think that Oiler should go." Lynn told Charlotte. "You and Krash in?"

"He DID cost us the win." Charlotte nodded. "We'll think about it."

"Thanks, man." Lynn nodded as she left.

As soon as Lynn was gone, Krash looked at Charlotte. "You're not gonna vote with them, are you?" He asked.

"No. This is the perfect chance to split up their alliance. All we have to ask ourselves is this: Which of the three do you think is a bigger threat?" Charlotte asked.

"Uh…" Krash scratched his head.

"Never mind. I'll just go tell Oiler." Charlotte shook her head.

Oiler looked up from his spot on the beach and saw Charlotte coming over. "I'm getting eliminated, aren't I?" He asked.

"No. We need you to vote out Lynn." Charlotte explained.

"Wait. Lynn? Why Lynn?"

"_It doesn't make any sense, because out of the three of them, Lynn's the strongest." Oiler noted. "Even still, if it's my only shot at remaining in the game, then I'll go with it. I just hope it doesn't come back to haunt us later, because we're gonna need all the luck we can get."_

Charlotte looked and saw Vikki coming over. Smirking, the German woman walked over.

"Vikki, we need your vote." Charlotte explained. "We need to take out Lynn."

"Why Lynn, partner?" Vikki asked.

"It's either her or Oiler and he's stronger." Charlotte replied.

"Hmm…I'll think about it. I mean, Oiler DID cost us the challenge."

"That's better than nothing, I suppose."

"_My plan is going smoothly. All I gotta do is play the swing vote and the alliances will target each other." Vikki said. "The alliances will fall and the remainders will come to me for support. Sounds good to me! I just need to lay low and let them focus on each other."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The eight members of Eleda walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding their seats, everyone sat down and waited for the host to commence.

"Welcome to your second Tribal Council, Eleda. In a moment, you'll be voting out one of your own from the game, much like you did six days ago." SSBFreak said before starting to ask questions. "Anita, the last time you were here, your tribe kept you over a stronger player. Do you think they regret their choice?"

"N-No. N-None of us liked Buzz and w-we've liked the camp a l-lot more without him around." Anita shook her head. "I t-think that we can s-still pull through a victory, though."

"You sound scared of something, Anita. Care to explain?"

"No!" Anita shouted, a little too hastily. "N-No."

"Just drop it." Ruth sighed. "If we couldn't get her to open up in nine days, you won't either."

SSBFreak paused, shrugged and continued. "Janine, your opposing tribe voted out their strongest player three days ago." He explained. "Do you feel at risk?"

"No. I mean, it was shocking to see that Urtha was eliminated, but I think someone had to have gotten people to vote her out." Janine replied.

"You think there's a conniver on Opito?"

"There has to be. I can't think of any reason how they could just vote out Urtha like that." The cavewoman scratched her head.

"Lynn, you're all been in the game for just over a week. How's life been at the camp?"

"For the most part, okay. Things have been more pleasant since we dumped Buzz, anyway." Lynn shrugged. "We've been trying to focus on the challenges that we need to, and it's won us a few challenges already."

"But you lost the one that really mattered." SSBFreak said with a smirk.

"Dude. Not cool." Lynn folded her arms.

"Oiler, it seems that you played a part in causing your team to lose. Care to explain?"

"The others say that my paranoia of crashing prevented the carriers from going faster and keeping up with the Opito Tribe." Oiler said. "I kept telling them that if we went too fast, we'd crash and lose valuable time getting back up again."

"It didn't stop the other tribe." Vikki noted with a smirk.

"No, but I still say that we could have crashed if we went too fast."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Vikki, you're up."

The cowgirl nodded and left the hut to go down to the voting table. She gave a smirk and scribbled a name down before placing it into the urn.

Ruth approached the table and wrote a name down. "Nothing personal, but you cost us the win." She said as she placed the vote into the jar.

Oiler wrote down a name and showed it to the camera. "It's going to be either you or me, but I still say this isn't the smartest vote." He said, having voted for Lynn.

Krash scratched his head, as if in thought, before shrugging and writing down a name and placing it into the urn. The Kremling left the table and went back to the hut.

Anita shakily wrote a name on her ballot. When she figured that the vote was readable, Anita placed it into the urn and returned to Tribal Council.

Janine stood at the counter, arms folded and shaking her head. "I wish I could have found a way around this." She said as she wrote a name down.

Lynn scribbled a name down and showed the camera her vote. "You cost us the win, man. We think you should pay for it." She said, having voted for Oiler.

Charlotte gave a smirk as she wrote a name down. She placed the ballot into the urn and left the counter without a word.

Once everyone had voted, SSBFreak fetched the full jar and returned a moment later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes."

"…First vote, Oiler." The test dummy looked a little nervous.

"Oiler. That's two votes for Oiler." Oiler started wringing his hands.

"…Lynn." This caught Lynn by surprise. The black-haired woman stared with wide eyes.

"Lynn. That's two votes for Oiler and two for Lynn." Lynn started getting nervous, as did her alliance.

"Oiler." Oiler continued to wring his hands until they literally popped from their sockets.

"Lynn. That's three votes for Oiler and three for Lynn." Lynn bit her lip and cast a glance at Oiler.

"…Lynn." Lynn's eyes widened as Anita and Ruth looked just as nervous as she did. "Final vote and third person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Lynn. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

As Anita and Ruth wondered what had just happened, Lynn looked down for a second before sighing and standing up. "This is just messed up, man." She said as she grabbed her torch and walked over to SSBFreak, whom held the snuffer in his hand.

"Lynn, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Lynn's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Good luck, girls. Do me proud." Lynn said to Anita and Ruth as she left Tribal Council and vanished from sight.

Once Lynn had left, SSBFreak looked at the remaining contestants. "And so ends another Tribal Council, which shows that just because you do well in tasks, doesn't mean that you'll be kept. There was clearly an ulterior motive for voting out Lynn." He explained. "You guys are again at a one-person disadvantage. Hopefully, you'll come back from behind again, but we'll just see where this goes. You can all head back to camp."

The remaining seven members of Eleda stood up, grabbed their torcehs and left Tribal Council to return to camp. Charlotte brought up the rear, giving a smirk as she followed the other members of her tribe. She had been successful in her attempt to weaken the alliance of her worries, but she still had a ways to go. Now it was time for step two…

"_Man. I totally didn't see myself getting booted this early. I was picturing myself going all the way, man. This sucks big time." Lynn moaned. "I guess I let my guard down, so there's nothing I can do about it now. On the plus side, I'll be able to spend time with Buzz to show that runt exactly what we all thought of him…"_

**Voting History:**

**Lynn – Charlotte, Janine, Krash, Oiler and Vikki**

**Oiler – Anita, Lynn and Ruth**

Author's Note: I always knew Lynn would be an early boot, so I tried to give her as much personality as I could. But even then she was still overshadowed by several other players. She was pretty much a filler character from the start that I didn't really know how to portray.


	5. Days 10 to 12

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Lynn was sent home at Tribal Council, even though I can't imagine how. This decreases the alliance I had with her and Anita." Ruth sighed. "I don't get it. Lynn was fairly strong and is definitely a better player than Oiler. What were the others thinking in voting her off?"_

"Charlotte, you spearheaded the move to eliminate Lynn, didn't you?" Ruth accused, pointing up at the German woman.

Charlotte folded her arms. "Comrade, I needed to eliminate someone from your alliance. If I left you alone for too long, you three would have gotten power." She explained.

"But we needed Lynn! She was a strong player!" Ruth continued.

"_I wasn't about to tell Ruth that I thought Lynn was the only one of the three capable of putting another alliance together. That would have given Ruth ideas." Charlotte said. "Even still, this is good. I managed to gain an advantage by voting out a member of a rival alliance and now I'm in a good position."_

As Ruth and Charlotte continued to argue, Janine shook her head and saw Vikki approaching the shelter. The cavewoman wandered over. "Vikki, I was wondering why you voted for Lynn." She said, getting the cowgirl's attention.

Vikki scratched her head. "Well, y'all had a point. The big alliance needed to be split and all." She shrugged. "I guess little ol' me thought Oiler would be a better player."

Janine scratched her head for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Okay. It makes sense." She replied. "I'm just glad you voted with us and didn't tie the vote."

"Like I said, it was between her and Oiler." Vikki shrugged. "I think we'd be better off with him."

"_My strategy of being a swing vote is working well so far. Already Ruth and Charlotte are after each other." Vikki said with a smirk. "All I gotta do is vote with whoever I want to and sail through the game. Hey, if it works, I ain't gonna complain!"_

As Vikki went into the shelter and went to sleep, Janine turned and saw Oiler coming over. "Looks like you got lucky there, Oiler." She said.

Oiler sighed in relief. "I know. I was on the edge of my seat when I realized I was a target." He admitted. "I'm just glad that Vikki decided to flip."

"I know. I just hope we don't have to go through that again."

"_I dodged a bullet the size of a small country at Tribal Council. I was really expecting everyone to vote me out because I always lose my limbs, but they voted out Lynn instead." Oiler said, looking determined. "Well, this marks a new beginning for me! No longer will I be considered a liability! From now on, I will no longer lose-" Oiler's arm suddenly fell off for no reason. "Crap."_

Everyone decided to go to bed, knowing that they had a big day ahead of them and they had to be ready for it.

**(Opito Tribe; Day 10)**

"_It's been ten days. We're already almost one-third through the competition." Nelson said with a grin. "It feels good to have lasted this far, but I'm not out of the woods yet. I need some help if I want to survive, or try to fly under the radar and let the others take each other out."_

Nelson looked around the camp. Mason was trying to fish using his bare hands (and failing pretty badly), Jack was trying to start a fire and Brick was trying to keep Ginny from turning a recently-caught fish blue. Nelson suddenly saw Molly coming over. "Hey, Molly." He greeted.

"Nelson, I need to ask you a favour." Molly explained. "I think we should vote out Ginny the next time we go to Tribal Council."

"Wait. Why would I do that?" Nelson asked. "She's crazy, but she's still tough."

"Because she's completely unpredictable and that's bad for us all." Molly replied. "If you can help us get rid of Ginny, I'll try to make it up to you later."

"_The funny thing about Minjos? They NEVER keep promises." Molly said with a smirk. "That dweeb doesn't need to know that. As long as he thinks I'm on his side, he'll vote for whoever I want."_

As Molly continued to talk to Nelson, Shamus watched from a distance, folding his arms and not looking amused. Roscoe saw him and came over with an armful of fruit. "Whatcha' lookin' at, Shamus?" He asked.

"Nothing. I just don't feel good about something."

Roscoe looked at where Shamus was looking and saw Molly talking with Nelson. "You think Nelson is going to try and pull one over on Molly?" He asked. "Now that I think about it, I wouldn't put it past him."

"That's not quite what I'm thinking of." Shamus replied.

Roscoe shrugged and took a bite out of a mango. "Whatever, man. You're one hard book to read." He noted.

"Obviously. I'm a pirate."

"_I know Molly is trying to lobby a vote. She's probably trying to keep the vote to her liking by recruiting the others." Shamus shook his head. "Well, I'm not going to fall for it. I'll tell her that she has my vote, but I'm voting for her the next time we go to Tribal Council."_

"_So Shamus seems to think that Nelson is trying to use Molly in some way, possibly to get a vote from her." Roscoe mused, smirking. "Man. I sure wish I thought of that. When it comes time for me to eliminate Jack, I may try to strike up an alliance with her and score a second jury vote."_

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 10)**

"_Now that we've lost a p-part of our alliance, we need to make up for it. Vikki seems to be the only one without a-an alliance now, so Ruth and I have been trying to get her on our side." Anita explained. "I don't know if it's w-working or not, because she hasn't really given us an answer yet."_

"Vikki, even though you had a hand in voting out Lynn, we need your vote." Ruth explained. "We know Charlotte's alliance is going to target us and we've seen that you're without a partner so far."

Vikki, sitting on the beach, gave a shrug. "Yeah. I guess yer right, partner." She nodded. "Who do you wanna target first?"

"Charlotte seems aligned with Krash." Ruth explained. "It pains me to say it, but he and Oiler are the only ones we can afford to lose at the moment."

"_I really don't want to rally against Krash, but he's aligned with someone that wants to end my game." Ruth explained, folding her arms. "Krash is a sweetheart and all, but like I said, he's the only one we can really afford to lose."_

Anita watched as Ruth left Vikki and came over. "Is she on our side?" She asked.

"I don't know. She didn't give me any specifics." Ruth shook her head.

Anita sighed. "We haven't gotten a clear answer from Vikki since we started." She moaned.

After Ruth left, Janine approached Vikki and looked around. "What did you tell her?" The cavewoman asked.

"That I'd think about it, partner." Vikki shrugged.

"Does that mean you won't vote with them?"

"I dunno. You wanna target Anita and they wanna target Krash." Vikki replied. "If you ask me, both alliances gave little ol' me good reasons to vote."

"_Just like I predicted, everyone's coming to me for a vote. All I need to do when everything is said and done is vote for who I think deserves it most." Vikki said with a smirk. "From the looks of things, the three alliances of two would be voting for different people, so that leaves me as a potential deciding vote."_

"_If there's one thing I hate, it's not getting a clear answer. Vikki listened to my reasons for targeting Anita, but she's unstable." Janine explained. "But when I asked her if she was in, she said she'd think about it. It kinda makes me wonder if this is all a plan of hers…"_

Oiler was trying to start a fire when he saw Janine coming over. "Didn't you already talk with Vikki?" He asked.

"That's what I thought." Janine shook her head as she sat down on a log. "Apparently, I was wrong."

**(Opito Tribe)**

Jack was still trying to make a fire when he looked up and saw Brick coming over alone. "Where's Ginny?" He asked. "I thought you were trying to keep her in check."

"I decided to let her go hound Mason for a bit and keep her outta my hair." Brick sighed as he sat down on a log.

Jack lifted a non-existent eyebrow and smirked. "You have hair?" He asked.

"You know what I mean."

"_Trying to keep an eye on Ginny all of the time is hard work, man. I don't know how Jack and Roscoe have been able to do it up to now." Brick moaned. "Seriously, none of the challenges we've faced so far have been harder than keeping Ginny from using her blue powder."_

As Jack futilely tried to make a fire, Roscoe approached with a sly grin. "Jack, I just got an awesome idea." He said. "Come over here."

After Roscoe led him out of hearing range from anyone, Jack looked at his semi-partner. "What's on your mind?" He asked.

"What say we bring a couple more people onto this alliance of ours?" Roscoe asked. "We befriend them and get them to trust us, and then when we hit the merge, we get rid of them secretly."

Jack paused in thought. "Two automatic jury votes for whichever one of us makes the finals. I like it." He said with a smirk. "In fact, I think I know who to get on our side."

"_I have to hand it to Roscoe. That was a pretty slick idea. The plan is to recruit two more people, who we decided to be Brick and Molly, and get them to trust us enough to vote for us at the finals." Jack explained with a smirk. "Then, after we get rid of them at the merge, I vote out Roscoe without him knowing. That gives me THREE votes in the end. None of them are gonna see it coming."_

As Jack and Roscoe returned to the fire pit, where Brick was still sitting, the koopa went back to work. "So you sent Ginny after Mason, eh?" He asked. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"How could it not be? She's not bothering any of us." Brick pointed out.

"She didn't happen to have her blue powder on her, did she?"

Brick paused. "I don't think so…"

_Mason sat in front of the camera, now sporting a blue beard. "That blue-haired woman had better hope this stuff washes out!" He said angrily, pointing at his beard. "How would I face the guys back in my platoon if I came back home with a blue beard?!"_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Stage one of my plan worked, and now I can focus on taking out the weak to strengthen our tribe." Charlotte explained. "I want Ruth out because, let's face it, she's old, small and frail. Getting rid of her would be far more-beneficial to us than getting rid of Anita."_

"Krash, I say we get rid of Ruth." Charlotte explained.

"I guess she IS weaker. But can we get the votes?" Krash asked.

"Certainly. Janine knows that it's best to take out the weak, Oiler's probably still recovering from his near-elimination and Vikki's the only swing vote here." Charlotte replied.

"But…You haven't actually TALKED to any of them, have you?" Krash asked. "From what I hear, Janine and Oiler are trying to target Anita."

Charlotte paused, her smirk fading. "Well…No. Not yet." She admitted.

"_All this strategizing is making my head hurt. I never had to deal with this much back on Kong Island. I don't know if Charlotte knows it, either." Krash said, holding his head. "I mean, she's already planning our next vote and she hasn't even talked to the others. Isn't that getting a bit ahead of yourself? I don't know anymore."_

Charlotte walked over to Vikki, whom was at the campfire, holding a fish over it on a pike. "Vikki, I am in need of some assistance." She said.

"What can I do fer ya, partner?" Vikki asked as she continued to roast the fish.

"Krash and I are targeting Ruth and we need a third vote. Can we trust you to vote with us?" Charlotte asked.

"Why Ruth?"

"She's old and she's weak. She'll become a liability to the team if she stays much longer." The German woman replied.

Vikki paused, then shrugged. "Sure. I'll think about it." She admitted. "You all have come to me with requests like this, so I'm gonna need to think hard about this."

Charlotte paused in thought, then nodded. "Okay. I'll check up on your opinion later." She said as she left Vikki alone. When she was alone, Vikki formed a smirk.

"_And that's three. Every alliance here has come to me, wanting to take out different targets." Vikki said. "I just gotta figure out which one deserves my vote more, because I can tell you that our next Tribal Council is gonna be close."_

Eventually, night arrived. The two tribes decided to go to sleep, wondering what would be in store for them the following day…

**(Opito Tribe; Day 11)**

When Jack left the shelter, he saw Roscoe sitting on a rock nearby. "You ready to do this?" He asked.

"Certainly. Time to change up the game." Roscoe replied with a smirk.

"_It's time to put our plan into effect. Roscoe and I are gonna form an alliance with Brick and Molly, the two weakest people here." Jack explained. "Then, when we get to the merge, we secretly dump them. What Roscoe doesn't know is that I'll end up doing the same to him, and voila! Three jury votes for yours truly."_

"_I can't believe how much this is working. After getting rid of Brick and Molly, I'll dump Jack without him knowing it." Roscoe said. "I know it may sound sneaky, but it's for a million bucks. Of course I'd have no regrets doing it!"_

Seeing Molly alone for once (as Mason was washing his face), the mismatched duo went over to her. "Hey, Molly? We wanna talk to you about something." Jack announced.

"Uh…Yes?" Molly asked.

"We were talking and we realized that we needed some more people on our alliance." Roscoe explained. "We know you and Brick are gonna be targeted because you're not as strong, so how about you and him join us and we'll control the game together?"

Molly paused, then smiled. "Sure. I'd like a large alliance." She replied. "You two, me and Brick in the final four?"

"You know it. If we can get you guys to the merge, it'll be easy to fly under everyone's radars." Jack assured.

"_Those two are complete idiots for actually giving me that idea. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes." Molly explained. "Not only would I have Mason, but those two and Brick as well! Four votes for me at the final Tribal Council. Now all I have to worry about is getting them all to the merge."_

"Sounds like a plan." Molly nodded. "I doubt Mason can help me through the game until the end any-"

"Sacrilegious!!"

Everyone turned and saw a furious Ginny staring down Mason, whom had just managed to wash the remaining bits of Ginny's blue powder from his beard that were still there from the night before. "How DARE you remove the sacred colour!! You should have been honoured to have a face adorned with blue!!" She shrieked.

"_This powder isn't cheap, and the formula to create the sacred colour has been passed down through my organization for generations!" Ginny shouted, waving her pouch of powder in front of the camera. "How could Mason be so inconsiderate as to defile the sacred colour like that?!"_

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 11)**

"So we can trust you to vote with us, Vikki?" Ruth asked.

"I think I'm leanin' towards voting with y'all, partner." Vikki nodded. "Ya never really know."

"You have to face the facts. Out of him and Oiler, I think we'd be better off without Krash." Ruth pointed out.

"Yeah. I mean, Krash has limited use, after all." Vikki gave a shrug.

"_I'm starting to get a little mad, here. I know we've all been trying to get Vikki's vote, and she knows that, too!" Ruth pointed out, arms folded. "I just wish she'd make up her mind and choose a side. At least then she wouldn't be leaving the rest of us waiting to see who she joins."_

Anita was fishing with Oiler (he was still trying to teach her) when Ruth came over, not looking amused. "Um…She didn't tell you anything?" She asked.

"No, she didn't." Ruth shook her head. "Quite frankly, I'm getting frustrated."

"She's not giving us any answers, either." Oiler piped up as he watched Anita cast out another line.

"I don't know why she's doing this." Ruth scratched her head. "It's like Vikki's trying to be the swing vote."

"It makes sense. Then she has control over the vote." Anita shrugged.

"_Once it clicked to us that Vikki was actually trying to play the swing vote, we didn't take it well, to say the least." Anita sighed. "I can understand that it's strategy, but when Vikki's doing this with no intention of voting with us in the future, what point is there to voting with her in the first place?"_

"So you're having problems with Vikki, too?" Janine asked as she came over.

"You too?" Anita asked.

"I think all of us have gone to Vikki with hopes of an additional vote at some point." Janine said, looking mad. "Boy. If we were played that easy by someone so laid-back…"

"Janine, just be thankful that we realized it." Oiler suggested, calming the cavewoman down.

"You're right." Janine nodded. "Thankfully, I think I know what to do."

"_If that cowgirl thinks she's going to get away with playing the constant swing vote, she's got another thing coming." Janine muttered. "I don't care how I do it, but I'll make sure that Vikki realizes that you can't play the swing vote permanently."_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_I'm in a bit of trouble. I know Molly's up to something and I know she's been lying to us all. However, I just don't know how I'm going to get the others to believe me." Shamus admitted. "Who are these people going to believe? A pirate or a cute little animal?"_

Shamus was trying to catch a fish with a fishing line he had made from scratch (he was faring far better than Mason did using his hands, anyway) when Molly approached him. "Anything biting yet?" The Minjo asked.

"A bit. I haven't caught anything, but they're biting." Shamus replied, trying to sound casual.

"Shamus, while we're waiting, I think now's the best time to tell you." Molly explained. "We want to target Ginny the next time we go to Tribal Council."

Shamus lifted the eyebrow of his good eye. "And by 'we' you mean…"

"Uh…Everyone else, pretty much." Molly said. "You're the last one that's been relayed the message."

"Well, I don't know how I feel about it." Shamus admitted. "Ginny's crazy, but she's still strong, right?"

"But that's just the point. She's crazy. She's a danger to everyone here." Molly insisted.

Shamus cast a glance at Molly. "Molly, all I'm gonna say is that I'll be voting for whoever I feel deserves it." He explained.

Molly and Shamus stared at each other for several seconds. Molly's eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "…Okay. That's fine." She managed as she turned and walked away, letting Shamus get back to fishing.

However, as she walked away, Molly gave a silent snarl.

"_It doesn't matter if we're ahead. We need strength and Ginny is still stronger than some of the others." Shamus explained. "Getting rid of two stronger players in a row would be idiotic, and I know Molly is just trying to find someone to take the fall so she will survive to the next round."_

"_He knows. That sleazy, filth-ridden pirate KNOWS. How he figured out my act I'll never know, but the point is that he knows." Molly growled. "This is just great. I literally just finished telling everyone that we needed to vote out Ginny! How am I going to get people to vote that pirate off now?!"_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

Krash watched as Charlotte talked to Vikki again, once again hoping to solidify a vote. The green Kremling scratched his head in confusion as he watched the two talk.

"_Charlotte seems intent on eliminating Ruth because she's older. While I can see that, I don't know why she seems so determined to get Vikki's vote." Krash said. "I mean, I know I don't catch onto things as easily, but I have no idea what a swing vote is. Does that mean that Vikki's just there to break a tiebreaker or something?"_

Charlotte came over, shaking her head. "I honestly don't know what else I have to do." She admitted. "I've been trying to get her vote since the last Tribal Council."

"Uh, Charlotte?" Krash interjected. "Can I ask something?"

"Sure, Krash. What is it?"

"What exactly IS a swing vote?" Krash asked, scratching his head.

"Well, the swing vote is usually the person that can prevent a tiebreaker and it's the goal of the alliances to secure that vote first." Charlotte explained.

"So…Vikki can pretty much sail through the game as long as there're alliances trying to eliminate each other?" Krash asked.

"Yes, that's…" Charlotte said before she cut herself off. The German girl's eyes widened.

"_I'm never going to live this down. A KREMLING managed to find a flaw in my plan. How am I going to explain this to my superiors?" Charlotte asked. "That being said, I realized what Vikki was doing as soon as Krash said it. That girl thinks she can sneak her way through us as we tumble around her. Brilliant idea, but she's made the wrong person mad."_

Meanwhile, the quartet of Janine, Oiler, Ruth and Anita were standing at the beach, still talking.

"So what do you think we should do?" Oiler asked.

"I think we should focus on Vikki." Ruth suggested. "I can't speak for any of you, but I'd rather be in a camp where we know where the votes are going."

"I know. I think she's getting far too comfortable." Janine nodded.

"Perhaps we could provide some assistance."

Everyone turned and saw Charlotte coming over with Krash. Charlotte didn't look very pleased.

"_I-It's funny how things have a strange way of working out, don't they?" Anita couldn't help but chuckle._

Night eventually rolled in again. Everyone on both tribes had gone to sleep, knowing that a challenge would be happening the following day.

**(Opito Tribe; Day 12)**

Brick walked up to the treemail box alone. Looking back, he saw Jack and Roscoe trying to keep Ginny from turning Mason's beard blue again. Nelson had jumped in to help them out.

"_Jack and Roscoe came to me yesterday with an alliance offer. Hey, working with a couple of guys like them isn't a bad idea, you know!" Brick said. "They're not weak enough to be picked off and not strong enough to be a threat at the merge. And they want to help Molly and I get through the game. I really think this is going to work out!"_

Brick reached into the treemail box and pulled out a letter. "Sweet! We've got the next challenge!" He said.

"What's it say, little man?"

Brick turned and his eyes widened when he saw Ginny standing behind him casually. Looking back onto the beach, Brick saw Jack, Roscoe and Nelson looking around confusedly, as if trying to find the blue-haired woman.

"How'd you do that?!" Brick asked.

"Do what?" Ginny asked.

"THAT!!" Brick exclaimed.

"Brick, if you're not going to talk sense, I'm not going to talk to you." Ginny folded her arms. "Just be thankful that you're wearing blue or else I would have already tuned you out by now."

"_That's another good thing about being blue. I'm able to blend into the background easily." Ginny supplied. "I mean, one minute they could be trying to restrain me and the next minute I'm thirty feet away and leaving them in the dust. Jack and Roscoe sure are fun to toy with!"_

"_I don't know how Jack and Roscoe can actually keep that woman under control at all. The fact that she's so full of energy makes it even harder." Nelson panted, sweating. "Seriously, what does she do to get that much energy?!"_

Brick decided to let the issue drop and went back to camp. "We've got treemail!" He announced, getting everyone's attention.

"What's the challenge?" Nelson asked.

"Doesn't say. It just asks if there's anyone afraid of water." Brick replied.

"_It's like they fashioned a challenge for me. This is going to be easy. With me being a pirate, I'm accustomed to the water." Shamus explained with a smirk. "We'll just have to see how the challenge involves the water to begin with…"_

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 12)**

"_We're having a challenge today, and I've been going over what the alliances have been telling me just in case we go to Tribal Council." Vikki explained. "So far, I think Charlotte and Krash have given me the best story, so I think I may join them for the moment. I can't get ahead of myself, though. We haven't even had the challenge yet."_

"Are you going to vote with us, Vikki?" Oiler asked. "Janine and I still think that getting rid of Anita would be the best way to go."

"I still haven't decided, partner." Vikki admitted. "Don't worry, though. Y'all went and gave a good reason for voting Anita off, so I'll definitely think about it."

"Thanks, I guess."

"_I didn't see it before, but now I totally do. Vikki's getting too comfortable. Normally, I wouldn't think much of it, but then everyone tells me that she's just going to sit aside and watch as the alliances take each other out." Oiler explained. "Sorry, but that tells me that she's capable of putting a plan together that can overcome all of us. I can't risk that."_

"Hey, guys! We've got treemail!" Krash announced as he came over.

"What's it say, Krash?" Ruth asked.

Krash took one look at the note and froze like a deer in a headlight. "…Uh…" He said.

"…Never mind. I'll read it." Ruth said as she took the letter. "It says 'Who on your team is afraid of water'?" She said.

"Well, we know it involves water." Charlotte noted. "The question is in what way."

"I guess we'll find out eventually." Janine added. "We should probably head out."

"_I-I'm not looking forward to this. If this challenge is what I think it'll be, then I just hope my nerves don't get the best of me." Anita mused, wringing her hands. "We're already down one person, and if I cost us the win for a second time, I don't think I'm going to be able to dodge the bullet again."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Opito Tribe stood on their mat on the beach, awaiting their opponents.

"Before we begin, let's bring in the Eleda Tribe." SSBFreak said.

The Eleda Tribe emerged from the jungle and walked over to their mat. The Opito Tribe saw who was missing from the crowd.

"Lynn was voted out at the last Tribal Council." SSBFreak explained. This garnered a mixed array of reactions from the Opito Tribe as the Eleda Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"Everyone, we're doing things a little differently today. In this challenge, both tribes will be going to Tribal Council tonight." SSBFreak explained.

"WHAT?!" Almost everyone shouted at once.

"Dude, why?! And if that's the case, what's the point in having a challenge?!" Jack asked.

"I'm getting there. Today, you will be tested on the endurance and power of your lungs." SSBFreak explained. Everyone quickly saw two familiar horizontal poles out in the water. "We've brought back a challenge from the previous season. The task is simple: Hold your breath. If you come out of the water, you're out. The team remaining at the end wins the challenge. The winning team, although they will go to Tribal Council as well, will be able to sit in on their opponents' Tribal Council and listen in on everything said."

Both tribes looked interested, knowing that this would provide a strategic advantage to the winners.

"But that's not all. The last person remaining will win individual immunity and won't be voted out at their Tribal Council." SSBFreak explained. "In addition, this person and this person alone will also choose someone on the other tribe to have individual immunity when that team goes to Tribal Council. Now, since individual immunity is up for grabs, no one will be sitting this challenge out."

Everyone looked at each other, knowing that a lot was at risk for this challenge.

"If you'll all go out into the water, we'll start the challenge." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

The fifteen remaining players were out at the water, each team holding onto one of the two horizontal poles sticking out of the water. Everyone waited in anticipation for the challenge to begin.

"When I give the word, you'll all go under at the same time and we'll start the challenge." SSBFreak said. "Survivors ready?...Go!!"

With that, everyone went under the water at the same time, starting the challenge. SSBFreak silently watched the water for a few seconds.

"Looks like we're off to a good start. Everyone's currently under the water." SSBFreak announced.

However, a few seconds longer and someone was already struggling to stay under the water. Anita snapped her head out of the water and latched onto the beam.

"That was fast. Anita is out."

"I hate…My nerves." Anita sputtered as she swam to shore.

As Anita was swimming to shore, Brick emerged from the water, looking tired. "Man. That sucks big time." He moaned as he followed Anita to shore.

"Brick is out as well. There are thirteen people left."

Everyone managed to stay under the water long enough for Anita and Brick to make it to the shore. Shortly after they did, someone started struggling under the water. Mason emerged, gasping for breath. Anita and Brick gave him flat looks of hopelessness.

"That lasted way shorter than I expected, Mason." SSBFreak said.

"It's harder than it looks!" Mason shot back as he swam to shore.

Molly and Ruth suddenly emerged from the water at the same time, looking short of breath.

"There are times where I hate being old." Ruth moaned as she swam to shore.

"Molly and Ruth are out. There are now ten people left."

Everyone waited for several seconds more before Roscoe shot out of the water. Shortly after he did, Oiler emerged from the water as well.

"I was hoping I'd do better than that." Roscoe shook his head.

"It's hard trying to stay under the water when you're constantly floating." Oiler noted.

"Roscoe and Oiler are out, there are now eight people left."

Suddenly, Janine burst from underneath the water, taking in a breath of air. The cavewoman grabbed hold of the beam and angrily hit it once she knew she had been eliminated.

"Janine is out as well. It's down to seven."

"What are these people made of?" Janine asked herself as she swam to the shore.

Everyone waited for a little longer. The remaining seven had been down for well over a minute by now, and everyone out was sure someone was tiring out by now.

Suddenly, Jack and Vikki emerged from the water, Jack latching onto the beam and taking deep breaths.

"Jack and Vikki are both out. There are five people left."

"Crap. How did Marty win this challenge?" Jack asked.

"Man. This challenge is harder than I thought." Vikki shook her head.

"Here's where we stand." SSBFreak said. "For Opito, we have Ginny, Nelson and Shamus competing, while Krash and Charlotte are the only ones left for Eleda."

The eliminated players waited in anticipation for the results, as if waiting for their opponents to emerge from the water. This continued for several more agonizing seconds before a few more people started struggling.

"Please be at least two Opito players." Anita muttered to herself.

Anita's wish was granted, because Ginny and Nelson emerged from the water at the same time. However, just after they did, Charlotte emerged from the water as well.

"That just eliminated three-fifths of the remaining players." SSBFreak said. "Ginny, Nelson and Charlotte are all out."

As the eliminated players went to shore, everyone suddenly became aware that there were only two people left.

"Only two players remain: Shamus and Krash." SSBFreak explained. "Opito, do you think Shamus can pull off a win?"

"I think he can. He's a pirate." Nelson replied. "He's got all kinds of experience with the sea."

"Eleda, Krash has already won you guys a challenge." SSBFreak said.

"Thanks for the reminder." Mason muttered, folding his arms.

"You guys think he can win again?"

"I certainly hope so." Janine nodded. "I mean, we don't know who's going to win, but we're all hoping it's going to be Krash."

Suddenly, someone started struggling. Everyone looked out into the water as the losing player emerged from the water.

Shamus, taking deep breaths, was holding onto the beam and looking exhausted.

"Shamus is out! That means that Eleda wins the bonus and Krash wins individual immunity!" SSBFreak announced.

Krash emerged from the water, looking only a little short on breath. He pumped his fist as his team cheered him on.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning individual immunity, Krash." SSBFreak said as he handed an Immunity Necklace to Krash. "You have also won your tribe the ability to sit in on Opito's Tribal Council."

"Heh. Thanks." Krash said sheepishly.

"Okay. Here's how things are going to go. Eleda will be going to Tribal Council first and vote someone off." SSBFreak explained. "Right after they do, Opito will commence Tribal Council and vote one of their own off as well while Eleda sits in. Before the votes for Opito are cast, Krash will give someone on Opito immunity, and without the advice from anyone on his team."

As Krash went back to his tribe, SSBFreak continued. "I'll give you all the remainder of the day to make your respective decisions, so for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_I can't believe I managed to win my tribe two challenges! This is awesome! And I also won immunity for myself, so I know I'm not going anywhere!" Krash cheered. "Not that I would have needed it, because everyone else seems to know who's going."_

"So we're voting Vikki, right?" Janine asked.

Charlotte gave a nod. "She's far too comfortable." She explained. "We need to get rid of her before we carry her through the game."

"As long as Oiler and I aren't targeted, I'm okay with it." Janine nodded.

"I wouldn't worry about you. Oiler, on the other hand…"

"No jokes, Charlotte." Janine scolded.

"Fine. Don't worry about him, either." Charlotte said.

Meanwhile, Ruth was talking to Vikki, and the cowgirl was listening to what the elderly Raposa was saying.

"Vikki, we need to target Oiler since Krash won immunity." Ruth explained. "Is that alright?"

"Sure, y'all. I'm good with that." Vikki shrugged.

"Does that mean you're voting with us?"

"I dunno. I'm definitely thinking about it."

"_Okay. So my options are Ruth, Anita and Oiler. I dunno who's getting my vote, but I'm leaning towards Ruth." Vikki explained. "I mean, she IS older and can hold us back in the long run. I know I'll be the deciding vote, so it's all good no matter which way I go."_

"_None of us like being on a tribe with someone that can flip alliances. It gives us a sense of uneasiness." Ruth explained. "I'd much rather have three alliances of two and force a tiebreaker than have a swing vote capable of voting you out when you least expect it."_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"Guys, I think we need to change targets." Molly explained, looking down.

"What is it? We're all ready to vote out Ginny like we planned." Jack explained.

"I think we need to switch targets and vote out Shamus." Molly said.

"_The pirate knows that I'm not who I'm pretending to be, and that's a big threat to my gameplan. I need to get rid of him before my secret gets out." Molly explained. "If I can convince the others to vote him out, I'm okay. But I know he'll be rallying to vote me out, so I need to make sure this goes without a hitch."_

"What did Shamus do?" Mason asked. "I mean, he's a hard worker and a good player."

"He's also a pirate. He's made me nervous since we started and now I know he's trying to eliminate me." Molly sniffed. "He…He threatened me last night and I was too scared to sleep in the shelter."

Mason's eyes widened. "That's good enough for me!" He said "Don't worry! We'll get him!"

Meanwhile, Shamus was talking with Nelson and Brick, the only other two who had voted with him before.

"_I'm not falling for Molly's tricks. I was taught to backstab before they could do the same to you, and I intend on doing that." Shamus said, folding his arms. We need to eliminate Molly before she brings the entire tribe down around her. I know she's capable of that, and that makes her more dangerous than Ginny ever could be."_

"We can't vote out Ginny. We need to vote out Molly." Shamus said. "Molly's too weak to be kept around and we still need Ginny."

"I'm on the same page." Nelson shook his head. "Those guys voted out Urtha and I want to make sure they see what they did."

"We need more votes, though." Shamus said. "You think you can get Ginny to vote with us? Or Jack and Roscoe?"

"It's worth a shot."

"_Oh. I guess I forgot to mention that I was in an alliance with Molly, Jack and Roscoe already. My bad." Brick chuckled._

**(Tribal Council)**

The seven members of Eleda entered Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. The immunity necklace adorned Krash's neck. Everyone found their spots and sat down to await the council to commence.

"Welcome to your third Tribal Council, Eleda. In a moment, you'll be voting one of your own out of the game, like you have already done twice." SSBFreak explained. "Ruth, Lynn got voted out last time. What was your reaction?"

"I was shocked. Lynn was still a strong player, even though she wasn't at the level of Janine or even Charlotte." Ruth rolled her eyes. "Anita and I have been trying to deal with it, and I think it's been going okay for the most part."

"Oiler, you were almost voted out last time. Are you at risk again?"

"I dunno. I don't think I'm being targeted, but you never know in a game like this." Oiler shrugged. "I mean, I think there are three alliances going at once, so I don't think anyone's safe."

"Vikki, you're apparently a swing vote here. Have many people come to you for votes?"

"Everyone's come to me, partner. I just need to decide on whom to give my vote to." Vikki replied. "It felt neat to know that you're the one in charge of the vote."

"So you think it's going to be a three-way vote with you as the deciding vote?"

"That seems to be the case, partner." Vikki replied.

"Krash, you won individual immunity and will soon be giving immunity to someone on Opito." SSBFreak explained. "What will you be looking for?"

"I have no clue whatsoever. I think I'm just gonna listen to the answers they give and make my decision afterwards." Krash replied with a shrug. "Like I said, I don't know who'll be getting it right now."

"Anita, who's going home?"

Anita shifted nervously. "I…I don't know. I think my name, Ruth's name and Oiler's name have come up at points, but I don't know how the vote will go." She explained. "I just…Hope I'm still here when the dust settles."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. Remember that Krash is immune and cannot be voted out. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Janine, you're up."

The cavewoman nodded and stood up, going towards the voting urn outside the hut. Janine wrote a name down and silently placed it into the urn.

Krash, wearing his necklace, approached the table and scribbled a name down. "I think a couple of the letters are backwards…" He said before shrugging and voting.

Ruth quietly stepped up to the table and showed her vote to the camera. "You're getting too comfortable. Sorry, but you need to know how to play better." She said, having voted for Vikki.

Charlotte gave a smirk as she wrote a name down. "That should do it." She said as she placed the vote into the urn and left the table.

Oiler scratched his head and wrote a name down. The test dummy hesitated, but quickly placed the vote into the urn before he second-guessed himself.

Vikki smirked as she wrote a name down and showed her ballot to the camera. "You're too old for the game, partner." She explained, having voted for Ruth.

Anita was the last to vote. The blonde girl quickly wrote a name down and placed it into the urn. She looked around nervously before leaving the table and returning to the hut.

Once everyone had voted, SSBFreak fetched the votes and came back with the urn in his arm. "Once I read the votes, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes."

"…First vote, Ruth." The Raposa lifted an eyebrow in surprise.

"…Vikki." This took Vikki by surprise. The cowgirl's eyes widened.

"Vikki. That's two votes for Vikki and one for Ruth." Vikki froze, suddenly getting a thought.

"Vikki." Vikki looked around at everyone, wondering what was happening.

"Vikki." Finally, Vikki sat back, realizing that she had just been had.

"Vikki." Some people looked relieved at how the vote had gone. "Final vote and fourth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Vikki. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

The cowgirl sighed and stood up. "Y'all got me good. I didn't see that coming." She said as she grabbed her torch and brought it to SSBFreak, whom held the snuffer.

"Vikki, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Vikki's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Time for me to ride into the sunset." Vikki said with a light chuckle as she walked out of Tribal Council.

Once Vikki was gone, SSBFreak looked at the remaining players. "Vikki is gone, showing that sometimes playing the swing vote isn't the best idea." He said. "Normally, I'd tell you to head back to camp, but I must ask you all to move to the Jury bench so the Opito Tribe can come in and vote someone out."

"_I guess I got too cocky and they all caught onto what I was planning. There ain't nothing I can do to change that now." Vikki sighed. "If I had known my game would end like this, I probably wouldn't have done things the way I did. Good luck, y'all. You're all gonna need it."_

The eight players of Opito walked into Tribal Council, also carrying lit torches. They saw that Vikki had been voted out, but didn't stop from sitting down and waiting for the council to start.

"Opito, this is your second Tribal Council, and you guys will be voting out someone shortly much like Eleda did just a few minutes ago." SSBFreak explained before asking questions again. "Nelson, the majority of the tribe voted out your tribe's strongest player last time I saw you. Why do you think that happened?"

"Someone started a rumour that Urtha was throwing challenges and they stupidly voted her off because of it." Nelson shook his head. "I don't know why, because she was by far our strongest player."

"Hey! You guys still have me!" Mason objected.

"Your strength pales in comparison to Urtha's, Mason." Nelson accused. "Unfortunately, there isn't anything we can do about it now."

"Shamus, do you know who started the rumour?"

"I have a good idea, lad. I'm almost positive I know. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone will believe me." Shamus replied.

"Who was it?"

"I'm not going to say anything, lad. Like I said, no one would believe me." Shamus shook his head.

"Molly, you were almost eliminated last time, and yet your tribe kept you over your strongest player." SSBFreak explained. "Mind elaborating on that?"

"I honestly don't know anything about that myself. I mean, Urtha was strong, but when I heard that she was throwing challenges, I decided to go with it at the time." Molly explained.

"Who started the rumour?"

"Like Shamus said, no one would believe it." Molly shrugged.

Shamus' eye twitched a couple of times.

"Jack, you've already been working your way around the obstacle of having a best friend that previously won Survivor." SSBFreak said. "How's that been going?"

"My plan since the start was to get into an alliance that could get everyone in it deep into the game." Jack explained. "So far, things have been going well. I just need to lay low when I need to and act when the time calls for it."

"Who's in your alliance?"

"That'd spoil the secret, mac." Jack replied with a smirk.

"Mason, you cost your team the win in the Trivia Challenge. Are you at risk tonight?"

"Well, we already voted out a strong player. I think that getting rid of our other strong player this early wouldn't be bright." Mason replied, scratching his head. "I know that I'm capable of pulling through, though. I mean, I once killed a Locust warrior with-"

"I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said, cutting Mason off and looking at the Jury bench, where Eleda was sitting. "Krash, you have the job of giving immunity to someone on Opito. Who's getting it?"

Krash stood up and walked over to the Opito Tribe. The kremling looked back and forth between the different looks the opposing tribe was giving him, Molly and Shamus especially. Finally, he gave in. "B-Brick!" He said finally, handing the Lego man the necklace.

"Whoa. Seriously?" Brick said in awe as Krash returned to the bench.

"Okay. With that, Brick is now immune and can't be voted out. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Jack, you're up."

The red-shirted koopa got up and left the hut to go to the voting table. Jack wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Brick walked up to the table and scribbled a name down. Smirking to himself, Brick placed the ballot into the urn.

Shamus wasted no time in writing a name down and showing it to the camera. "You're weak, and you're up to something." He said, having voted for Molly.

Mason narrowed his eyes as he wrote a name down. Once he finished, the bearded fighter placed the ballot into the jar and left the table without a word.

Ginny gave a grin as she voted. The blue-haired woman sprinkled some of her blue powder onto the ballot before placing it into the urn.

Molly growled as she wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I'm not letting someone like you ruin my game." She said, having voted for Shamus.

Nelson shook his head. "I just hope this works." He said as he wrote a name down and placed his vote into the urn before leaving the table.

Roscoe quickly wrote a name down, not wanting to waste any time. The gray mouse silently placed his vote into the urn and left.

Once everyone had voted, SSBFreak fetched the urn and came back with it moments later. "After I read the votes, the person with the most names will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes."

"…First vote, Molly." Molly's eye twitched a couple of times.

"Shamus. That's one vote for Molly and one for Shamus." Shamus cast a glare at Molly.

"Shamus." Shamus' good eye narrowed.

"Molly. That's two votes for Molly and two for Shamus." Molly was silently hoping that was all she'd get.

"…Ginny." The blue-haired woman's eyebrow lifted in surprise.

"Shamus." Shamus let out a growl when he saw that the ballot was blue.

"Shamus." Nelson gave a sigh. "Final vote and fifth person voted out of Survivor: Central hub…"

"Shamus. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

The Eleda Tribe stared in surprise as Shamus stood up and grabbed his torch. "You'll be sorry." He said. "You'll see." With that, Shamus approached the host, whom still held the snuffer.

"Shamus, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Shamus' torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Good. Get me out of here." Shamus said as he left Tribal Council without another word.

Once Shamus was gone, SSBFreak looked at the remaining Opito players. "Once again, a stronger player has been voted out early. I have to say that even I'm getting curious as to what you all are thinking." He said. "That being said, there are now thirteen of you left in the game altogether, and I can tell just by tonight alone that we're going to be in for one heck of a ride to the finals. I'll see you all in a couple of days for the next challenge, but for now you can all head back to camp."

Everyone in the hut quickly gathered their torches and left Tribal Council, going in opposite directions. Even the Eleda Tribe was more focused on Shamus' elimination as opposed to Vikki's. They were wondering what could have possessed the Opito Tribe to vote out two strong players in a row, but they all knew it probably wasn't good.

"_I really wish I could have called Molly out as I was leaving, but that would have made me look like a fool and I KNOW no one would have believed me if I did that." Shamus rolled his eye. "I have no regrets except for the fact that I ended up on the wrong tribe. These people just don't appreciate strength."_

**Voting History 1:**

**Vikki – Anita, Charlotte, Janine, Krash, Oiler and Ruth**

**Ruth – Vikki**

**Voting History 2:**

**Shamus – Ginny, Jack, Mason, Molly and Roscoe**

**Molly – Nelson and Shamus**

**Ginny – Brick**

Author's Note: Vikki was a character I didn't really have many plans for, but I came up with the idea of her being the swing vote while I was writing. In a sense, I wanted to portray Vikki's elimination as what COULD have happened to Jonathan and Zoe back in Season 1.

Shamus, on the other hand, is the first big character of the season to be eliminated. I always intended Shamus to be a blindside boot going out around this point, and when I finalized the cast I determined that he'd be another victim of Molly.


	6. Days 13 to 14

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Voting out Vikki had its pluses and minuses. On one hand, it means that we don't have a swing vote floating between alliances. On the other, it means we've got a three-way tie for two votes." Charlotte said. "If I want to vote out Anita or Ruth, I have to team up with Janine and Oiler, and I have to do it before the others do."_

"Janine. Oiler. I need to talk to you." Charlotte explained.

"What's up?" Oiler asked.

"Now that we got rid of Vikki, we're at a three-way deadlock." Charlotte explained. "I want to vote out Ruth, but Krash and I need a majority."

"Well, I still say that Anita needs to go first." Janine replied, folding her arms. "Her nerves will be our unraveling. You saw how poorly she did in the Immunity Challenge."

"But Ruth is a bigger liability." Charlotte pointed out, narrowing her eyes. "She's older, and that makes her weaker by comparison."

As Charlotte and Janine bickered, Oiler and Krash looked at each other. They each let out a collective sigh.

"_I still think it's too early to select a target. I think it's best to see who fares poorly in challenges." Krash shrugged. "I mean, Charlotte's getting way ahead of herself with this whole strategy thing, and now Janine's starting to look that way too."_

"Girls, break it up." Oiler suggested as he got between Charlotte and Janine, holding them apart. "We'll have plenty of time to discuss targets before the next challenge, so I suggest we just get to sleep and think it over later."

Charlotte paused, then nodded. "Very well. I hope you'll make the right decision." She said as she turned and left for the shelter. Krash looked at Janine, gave an apologetic shrug and followed Charlotte.

"_In all honesty, Charlotte makes me nervous. I mean, she's a tough soldier and knows how to lead. This makes her a huge threat." Oiler admitted. "I just don't know where I stand on this whole thing. I mean, either way we'd be targeting a weak player, so it's not as if we're losing any ground."_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_I just lost my second ally in six days. I honestly thought at least Brick would have our backs, but no. He went ahead and voted for someone else." Nelson said. "I think it's obvious by now. I'm on my own. I'm going to have an uphill battle from here on in, because I know the alliances will be aiming to finish me off."_

"Brick, why'd you vote for Ginny? Not only was it a waste of a vote, but you abandoned Shamus and I." Nelson said.

"Sorry, man. I had a previous deal." Brick shrugged innocently.

"You just doomed me. You know that?"

"It's nothing personal. It's just the way the cards were dealt." Brick assured.

"_Yeah, ditching Nelson like that probably wasn't the best thing I could have done, but the alliance I'm in with Jack, Roscoe and Molly calls for me to help take out the threats." Brick said. "And at least Nelson can say that I didn't try to vote Shamus off because I purposefully gave my vote to Ginny."_

Meanwhile, Jack and Roscoe stood aside, arms folded and smirking triumphantly.

"And so ends the first stage of our plan." Jack said. "What now?"

"We need to target either Nelson or Ginny." Roscoe explained. "What do you think?"

"It would be good to get rid of Ginny to have a break, but Nelson's a bigger threat."

"Nelson? A threat?"

"Did you even WATCH the last season, dude? The smart ones are always threats!" Jack replied.

"_Voting out Shamus was essential to our plan, as it solidified Molly's allegiance with us. Brick didn't vote with us, but we figure it was to say that he didn't technically betray Nelson." Roscoe said. "He knows the betrayal will come eventually, so we just hope that he'll be ready to do it without thinking twice. Jack and I are confident with him, but you never know in this game."_

Everyone on both tribes went to bed, knowing that they'd have a rough day ahead of them.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 13)**

"_Vikki ended up voting for me last night, which means I would have gone if we all didn't decide to blindside her." Ruth said. "While it did save me from elimination, I know that we still need numbers if we want to survive. We've already lost one member of our alliance, and I don't want all three of us to get picked off before the merge."_

"Well, now that we got rid of the only potential swing vote, what now?" Anita asked Ruth. "Vikki was really the only one that could have given us an advantage."

"She voted for me, though. That tells me where she was heading." Ruth said. "If I ended up going, she probably would have joined Janine and Oiler."

"Well…Then how about we join them before Charlotte and Krash do?" Anita suggested.

"_I-I know I'm not the best strategist, but seeing as how Ruth was responsible for keeping me around, I figured I owed her the favour." Anita said. "I knew that we had to align with Janine and Oiler, and I also knew that out of the two of them, Oiler would be the best one to talk to."_

"H-Hey, Oiler!" Anita called out as she darted over to Oiler, whom was walking down the beach to his fishing spot.

The test dummy turned and saw Anita coming over. "Oh. Morning, Anita." He greeted. "Sleep okay?"

"The nightmare hasn't…Bothered me in the past few days." Anita admitted. "L-Look, I need your help."

"Yeah?"

"I think we need to focus on Charlotte's alliance." Anita explained.

Oiler rubbed his head nervously. "I dunno. I mean, both her and Krash are pretty strong." He said.

"But Charlotte…She's a strong leader. Almost TOO strong." Anita said. "What would happen if she made the merge?"

Oiler folded his arms. "Probably find a way to form a majority alliance." He admitted.

"C-Can you at least think about it?" Anita asked. "Y-You just need to think about which alliance you and Janine feel safer with."

With that, Anita left Oiler standing there, paused in thought. The test dummy was so wrapped up in thoughts that he almost didn't notice his arm fall from his socket for no reason.

"_Anita says that I need to choose which alliance I feel safer with. In all honesty, I don't know. I mean, Charlotte isn't the ONLY one capable of some sneaky moves." Oiler said. "Wasn't Ruth the one responsible for spearheading the elimination of Buzz, one of our stronger players? Kinda makes we wonder which alliance I WOULD feel safer on."_

**(Opito Tribe; Day 13)**

Nelson was once again drawing in the sand with a stick. The lanky nerd looked more frustrated and annoyed as opposed to angry, given the circumstances.

"_I can understand that everything that's happened is due to strategy, but what I don't get is why we keep losing our strong players." Nelson said, eyes narrowed. "It just doesn't make any sense, and that tells me that someone on this tribe has an ulterior motive. I just need to find out who's behind this and what they're thinking by doing this to us."_

Jack came over and looked at what Nelson was doing. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"I draw when I get frustrated. It helps me calm my nerves." Nelson replied, not taking his eyes off his new drawing.

"Uh…How long have you been drawing this?" Jack asked, scratching his head. Nelson's drawing was a highly-detailed, twenty foot-wide picture of a mystic woman-like being with two demon dogs beside her. "And what the heck are you drawing to begin with?"

"For your information, it's Gozer the Gozerian with her demons Zool and Vinz Clother." Nelson replied.

"Right. I can't believe I didn't realize that." Jack rolled his eyes.

"_Nelson's an alright guy, but he's on the outskirts. That's just the price of being at the wrong place at the wrong time." Jack admitted. "Still, I like him. I might see if I can get my alliance to target Ginny before we set sights on him."_

Meanwhile, Mason was hiding in a bush, looking around suspiciously. Molly saw him and came over. "Why are you hiding in a bush, Mason?" She asked.

"I'm hiding from Ginny. That woman's been trying to dye my beard blue ever since I washed it." Mason replied. "Don't tell her I'm in here!"

Molly lifted an eyebrow. "Uh…Sure." She said. "Mason, I wanted to thank you for helping me last night and voting out Shamus."

"It's no trouble. I can't let a defenseless being be picked on like that." Mason shook his head. "It's like this one time where I saved two kids from a Locust with a chainsaw and-"

"There you are, you heathen!" Ginny roared as she stomped over with her pouch of blue powder. "Now stand still while I work my magic once and for all!"

"No! I want my beard to stay as it is!" Mason cried as he leapt from the bush and ran away.

"You can't run forever, mortal! The power of blue compels you!" Ginny shouted after him as she gave chase.

"_Why me?! What did I do to her besides wash my beard of that blue stuff of hers?!" Mason demanded, looking exhausted. "I can't run from her forever. We need to take her out, and I'm going to lobby the vote to eliminate her before she gets me with a more-permanent colour!"_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Sitting in on the other team's Tribal Council was definitely an interesting experience, and it gave me the opportunity to see how the others thought." Charlotte said with a smirk. "However, one thing I'm confused at is why Krash gave the immunity necklace to Brick. I know he's not the strongest player, but I would have given it to Molly as an excuse for the other team to keep her around."_

"Krash, what made you decide on giving immunity to Brick?" Charlotte asked. "From what I saw, he wasn't a target."

Krash sighed. "I dunno. I just saw the glances the other tribe was giving me, mainly the Jinjo and the pirate guy, and I kinda panicked." He admitted, looking down.

"Not that it matters. They stupidly voted out a stronger player anyway, as much as it confuses me." Charlotte assured.

"_Yeah. I just panicked at Tribal Council and wanted to get that moment over with. Yeesh, this whole competition has been doing nothing but give me pressure about everything." Krash moaned. "I never thought this game was so hard on the mind. I just thought the goal of the game was to outlast everyone else!"_

"The important thing is that we've now got a feeling as to what the other team is up to." Charlotte admitted. "At least we'll have that as an advantage when the merge hits."

"But what if we don't get the numbers to MAKE the merge?" Krash asked.

Charlotte lifted an eyebrow and looked to the side in suspicion.

Meanwhile, Oiler was talking to Janine about his recent talk with Anita.

"It's not a question of which alliance would benefit us, but rather which alliance we can trust more." Oiler supplied.

Janine sighed. "Both have their ups and downs. All we can do is hope that we don't lose another challenge." She replied. "If we make a choice too soon, we may make the wrong one."

"I know. It's like choosing the one least-likely to stab you in the back." Oiler sighed.

"_Either way, Oiler and I are making a decision that will have negative effects. Ruth's alliance is physically weaker, but Charlotte's is more-likely to plot something behind our backs." Janine admitted. "Both Charlotte and Ruth are capable of underhanded tricks, so we need to make sure that when we make the right choice, we'll be ready for anything."_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_I intend on trying my hardest on getting everyone in my alliance to the merge, simply because they'll all be on the jury and give me votes." Molly explained with a smirk. "There's only one problem: If we lose the next three immunity challenges, we'll be getting into eliminating our own. I still need these people."_

"What did you want to say, Jack?" Brick asked as the quartet of him, Jack, Roscoe and Molly were gathered around the fire pit.

"You all know that we need to target Nelson and Ginny next." Jack noted. "I wanted to say that I think we should go after Ginny first."

"I agree. It's hard enough keeping the crazy blue girl under control." Roscoe moaned. "That and Nelson may come in handy in case we come upon another trivia challenge."

"I doubt it. They rarely have two trivia challenges pre-merge." Molly noted.

"_I'm fine with targeting Ginny first. It's hard trying to keep up with her and prevent her from using that blue stuff of hers." Brick noted. "In all honesty, I think I'd rather get rid of Ginny before Nelson anyway. I know that I'd betray him eventually, but we'll keep him around longer than we normally would have."_

"But what if we lose all of the challenges up to the merge?" Molly asked. "We can't afford to lose Mason."

"I know. He's our strongest player left even if he IS short on brains." Jack folded his arms. "We'll just have to hope that we don't lose enough challenges to get rid of him."

"_One thing I excel in is my strategic mind. That's the biggest thing that separates me from Marty. He stayed under the radar, but I'm a strategic mastermind." Jack admitted. "That's going to help me here, because the first rule of Survivor is to make sure you have a strong alliance. I'm comfortable with my crew, at least for now."_

"_Jack thinks he's got all the best ideas possible, and while I admit he's got potential, he'd be dead in the water if he was alone." Molly smirked. "I'd say he'd better be glad he has the others, but he doesn't exactly know that yet."_

Night eventually came along. Both teams knew that there would be a challenge the following day, so they went to bed and got some sleep.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 14)**

"_Anita managed to talk to Oiler yesterday and give him some things to talk about. She and I just hope that he and Janine will join us in the end." Ruth explained. "We need their votes for an advantage and I hate the tension."_

"You're sure Oiler didn't say anything?" Ruth asked.

"I'm sure. H-He said he'd think about it, but he sounded like he meant it." Anita supplied.

"It's a start. Hopefully, we've made more progress on them than Charlotte and Krash have." Ruth shook her head.

"_I know Ruth doesn't believe it, but I think Oiler's really thinking about joining us. If he did, it would be amazing." Anita said, forming a weak smile. "At least we'd have the numbers to stay in the game. That's all R-Ruth and I really want at this point."_

Meanwhile, Janine was walking up to the treemail box, alone and in deep thought.

"_Oiler told me that we had to choose between alliances and I just can't decide where my loyalty will lay." Janine admitted. "I've said before that both alliances have their specific downfalls, but the biggest question is which alliance will take Oiler and I further into the game. At the moment, that's the hardest decision we have to make."_

Janine reached into the treemail box, hoping that she'd have more time to make a decision. She pulled out a letter and looked it over. "Hmm…It doesn't say if it's Reward or Immunity." She noted as she returned to camp. "We have treemail!"

Everyone approached the cavewoman. "What're we up against next?" Krash asked with a grin.

"It just says 'Can you keep a ball rolling'?" Janine read.

"That's…Pretty vague." Ruth noted.

"As they all are." Janine shrugged. "Should we get going?"

"We may as well." Charlotte nodded with a smirk. "We don't want to keep our opponents waiting."

**(Opito Tribe; Day 14)**

"_There's going to be a challenge today and you can bet that I'm going to be trying my hardest at it if I want to stick around." Nelson said. "Since it's basically me against my entire tribe, I want to make sure that we win so I can at least stay around long enough to form some kind of strategy."_

Nelson was walking towards the treemail box, trying to come up with an idea on how to survive.

"The only thing I can think of is a Hidden Immunity Idol, and we haven't even been told about any of that stuff yet." Nelson sighed and shook his head. "I could try and form an alliance with Ginny and Mason or something, but that still wouldn't be enough to outlast the majority."

Nelson reached the treemail box and pulled out a letter. However, his eyes widened in surprise when he saw that the letter was blue. "What the?"

"Isn't it awesome?!"

Nelson looked up and saw Ginny poking her head out from within the leaves of a tree. The tree was now painted blue. "I've made it my goal to make sure that all of the letters we get are blue!" Ginny pointed out.

"And…You DIDN'T read this one when you did it?" Nelson asked.

Ginny blinked. "Uh…I guess I forgot." She said just before falling out of the tree and landing in the sand.

"_How do they expect me to do everything around here?! I have a heck of a time helping everything be blue!" Ginny pouted. "And then they expect me to read all of the letters we get?! Seriously, there are six other people here!"_

Nelson and Ginny returned with the letter. "We have…Uh…Slightly tampered-with treemail." Nelson announced, giving the cheerful Ginny a sideways glance.

"Ginny got to it first, didn't she?" Roscoe asked.

"Yeah. Well, it's just asking how well we can roll a ball." Nelson explained.

"Sounds simple enough, but things are never that simple." Jack shook his head.

"Well, I'm ready for them! Let's go and win us a challenge!" Mason laughed.

"_If this challenge is Immunity, then we'll have nothing to worry about. If we win, then that's great, but if we don't, we just get rid of Ginny." Brick shrugged with a smirk. "It's a win-win, as far as I'm concerned. I just wonder what the letter meant by that…" _

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two teams left the jungle, stepped into a clearing and walked over to their mats. Because they already knew who had been eliminated on both teams, there wasn't any surprise on anyone's faces. Everyone stepped onto their mats and awaited SSBFreak to start talking.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will once again be seeing how well you work as a team, but in a different way." SSBFreak explained. Everyone suddenly noticed that there was a large playing field going underneath a line of flags hanging from a beam. Two huge balancing balls were sitting nearby. "One player from each team must ride a ball, trying to remain balanced on it as five members of your team roll it around. The player riding the ball must collect flags of their team's colour from the post hanging above the course. Simply put, the first team to collect all five of their flags wins Immunity and will be safe from Tribal Council tonight."

SSBFreak looked at the team with the advantage. "Opito, despite voting Shamus out, you're still got one extra member." He explained. "Who's sitting out?"

"I may as well." Molly said.

"Okay. If you'll all get into position, we can start the challenge." SSBFreak explained.

**(Later…)**

Brick was perched atop Opito's ball, while Anita was trying to keep her balance on Eleda's. Their two tribes stood behind the balls, preparing to roll them around the field.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready?...Go!!" SSBFreak shouted.

The two teams propelled forward, working together to roll the massive spheres forward. Almost instantly, Anita was wobbling as she tried to move with the ball she was standing on.

"W-Wait! Hold up!" Anita cried, causing the rest of her team to stop.

"What's wrong, Anita?" Ruth asked.

"It's…It's hard to keep my balance!" Anita insisted.

"Just keep moving with the ball and you'll be fine." Charlotte instructed.

"O-Okay. Just…Don't go too fast, okay?" Anita replied.

The Eleda Tribe complied, almost reluctantly, as they rolled the ball forward at a slower pace.

Brick, however, was having a much-easier time balancing. In fact, as he was walking backwards to move with the ball going forwards, he looked back. "Guys, go faster!" He instructed.

"You sure, man?" Jack asked.

"Positive! I can totally run with it!" Brick said. "Just keep going straight and we've got our first flag!"

The Opito Tribe indeed picked up the pace and Brick easily managed to speed up his running, leaving the Eleda Tribe in the dust.

Janine looked around the ball she and the others were pushing and growled. "They're speeding up!" She shouted.

"Anita, we're going to go faster!" Charlotte directed.

"N-No! I can't keep my balance!" Anita pleaded.

Anita's pleads fell on deaf ears and the Eleda Tribe moved faster. They weren't going as fast as the Opito Tribe, but they had indeed sped up. Unfortunately, by now the Opito Tribe had arrived at their first flag. Brick reached up and easily plucked it from the post overhead.

"Opito scores their first point!" SSBFreak announced.

"Where's the next flag?" Roscoe asked.

Brick turned around and pointed out the nearest flag. "Over there! Push the ball from the other side!" He directed.

The Opito Tribe quickly complied with Brick's wishes and flocked to the other side of the ball. The five players pushed and started rolling forward again, picking up the pace when Brick again prompted them.

"Anita, where's the first flag?" Oiler asked. "We need to play catch-up."

"J-Just up ahead." Anita replied. "We're almost there."

By now, the Opito Tribe had once again achieved a considerable lead on Eleda. As Molly watched from the sidelines with a smirk, the other five players of Opito were easily pushing the large ball around the field, Brick perched on top and easily moving with it.

"Okay! Turn left slightly!" Brick said. "We're starting to go off course!"

"You got it!" Nelson said as he and the others veered to the left.

The Eleda Tribe was having a much tougher time going around the playing field, mainly because Anita was having a hard time keeping her balance on the ball when her team moved too fast.

"K-Keep going! We're almost there!" Anita said.

"You want us to go faster yet?" Krash asked.

"Yes." Charlotte grunted.

"No!" Anita pleaded at the same time.

As the Eleda Tribe struggled, the Opito Tribe easily went over to their second flag. Brick snatched it triumphantly.

"Opito now has two points!" SSBFreak announced. "Three more to go!"

"They've got two points?!" Oiler asked. "We're behind even more!"

"Anita, PLEASE tell us we're close!" Charlotte moaned.

"Y-Yes! Just a few more feet!"

The Eleda Tribe rolled Anita over to their first flag. The blonde girl quickly grabbed it.

"Eleda has their first flag, but they've still got a ways to catch up!" SSBFreak announced.

"Ignore it, guys! Keep going!" Brick said. "We're still one point ahead!"

"Are we coming to the next flag yet, Brick?" Nelson asked.

"It's straight ahead! Speed up!"

"We're already going kinda fast, man." Jack noted.

"I can keep up with it! Go!" Brick said.

The Opito players picked up the pace again. Brick continued to run backwards as the ball moved. He looked like he was struggling a bit, but he was keeping up.

"Where's the next flag, Anita?" Krash asked. "They've got a lead on us!"

"I-It's just over there." Anita pointed out. "To the right."

The Eleda players turned to the right and continued to roll the ball forward. Anita was starting to get the hang of balancing on the ball, so she was having an easier time with keeping balanced while the others were rolling the ball faster. Before too long, the Eleda Tribe had arrived at their second flag at the same moment the Opito Tribe got to their third. Anita and Brick grabbed the flags at the same time.

"Both teams score! Opito has three points and Eleda has two!" SSBFreak announced.

"Crap! They're starting to catch up!" Roscoe cursed.

"I say we speed up some more." Mason suggested. "We need to gain more ground."

"I'm with Mason, guys! Pick up the pace!" Brick ordered.

"I'm not sure how much faster we can roll this thing." Nelson shook his head.

Meanwhile, Anita was directing her team towards their next flag, which was sitting nearby.

"K-Keep going straight." Anita directed. "It's just ahead."

"We need to pick up the pace, Anita." Charlotte informed. "Can you stay balanced?"

"I-I think so." Anita nodded.

The Eleda players quickly rolled the ball faster. Anita stumbled for the first couple of seconds, but managed to keep her balance.

"I think we're catching up!" Oiler said as he looked to the left. "The other team hasn't even arrived at their next flag yet!"

"Sweet! We've got a chance!" Krash cheered.

"Come on, guys! They're catching up!" Molly shouted from the sidelines.

However, as much as the Opito tribe tried to go faster, Eleda had the quicker draw and arrived at their next flag first. Anita quickly snatched it.

"Eleda's got their third point! The score's tied up!" SSBFreak announced.

"Guys, we need to pick up the pace!" Brick ordered. "We're almost at the next flag!"

"We're still ahead then!" Ginny said.

"Not by much! They're catching up!" Brick replied as he reached out and grabbed the fourth flag once he got close enough.

"Opito now has four points!"

"Okay, guys! We need to get this done fast!" Brick said. "The last flag's to the left slightly and straight ahead. I want you guys to go as fast as you can!"

"I don't know about this." Nelson warned.

"Just do it, man!"

Once the Opito players were facing the final flag, they ran full speed ahead. Brick ran backwards, managing to keep himself balanced, but looking like he was struggling to stay on the ball. Even with this, they had a clear shot at the fifth flag.

However, Brick had failed to notice a stump sitting directly in their way. The Opito players ran straight into the stump, bringing the run to an abrupt halt. The five Opito players smashed into the ball they were pushing, but were otherwise unharmed. Brick, on the other hand, was thrown off the ball due to the sudden lack of motion. The Lego man fell down headfirst and hit his head on the stump his team had just run into.

"Oh, crap! Brick!" Jack exclaimed.

"Brick just went down!" SSBFreak said. "Stop the challenge! It looks bad!"

The Eleda Tribe stopped moving and looked at the fallen survivor. They all looked at each other with let-down reactions.

**(Later…)**

"Okay. Brick hit his head and the blow knocked him out. For now, we took him to our medical centre to see if we need to pull him from the game." SSBFreak said. "Eleda Tribe, you guys would have won the challenge if I had let you continue, so you guys have Immunity and are safe tonight." He looked at the Opito Tribe and continued. "Opito, you guys lost the challenge, but you may or may not have to go to Tribal Council. If we decide that Brick's injuries are bad enough to evacuate him, you won't need to come. However, if we drop him off at your camp because we deem him okay, then you guys will go to Tribal Council and vote someone off."

With that, SSBFreak stepped backwards. "For now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Man. I can't believe that just happened back there. Brick was apparently getting a little too paranoid by us catching up that he got the rest of his team to go faster." Oiler said. "We won the challenge by default, so that kinda gives us mixed feelings. I mean, we'll take the win, but the way we won kinda makes us feel that we didn't earn it."_

"Why do you think they crashed?" Oiler asked.

"Brick was getting nervous with us catching up." Charlotte replied. "He got his team to go too fast and they ended up paying for it."

"What do you think's going to happen?" Janine asked.

"I guess we won't know until we see the others at the next challenge." Ruth replied with a shrug

"_In all honesty, I think whatever happens will work in our favour." Ruth replied. "If Brick is okay, then he won't be in top shape for the next challenge. If he gets evacuated, then at least we still won't be at a disadvantage. I feel bad for thinking things like that, but you take what you get."_

"So what do we do now?" Krash asked, scratching his head. "I mean, since we won the challenge, we've got time on our hands."

"We wait to find out the outcome for the other team." Charlotte replied. "But since we aren't going to Tribal Council, I suppose we can just relax for now."

The rest of the tribe agreed and dispersed, knowing that this would be some of the only relaxation they would end up getting during the game.

"_I feel that Brick hitting his head may have…May have saved me at the same time. I was the main reason we were b-behind in the first place." Anita rubbed the back of her head, looking down. "Still, i-if I wanted to tell my team to go faster, I m-may have ended up like Brick."_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_We're all worried about Brick, but I think the kid's got what it takes to pull through. I mean, hitting himself on the head isn't that big of a deal." Mason mused. "I once had to beat seven Locust to death with one hand because my other arm was broken…"_

"Man! This sucks!" Roscoe growled, kicking at the sand. "We finally get a decent alliance going and this happens to one of our members!"

"The only thing we can hope for is that Brick can pull through." Jack sighed. "We still need him and his vote."

"_Brick made the stupid choice of having the lot of us run faster than what probably should have been acceptable." Jack said, arms folded. "And now, he's paid for it by hitting his head on a stump. Man. All I can say is that he'd better pull through. We seriously need him."_

Meanwhile, Nelson was standing aside with Ginny, talking to her.

"Ginny, I know they're going to target the two of us next." Nelson pointed out. "You have to believe me on this one."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"Because you should know that you're creeping everyone out." Nelson reminded. "They'll get rid of you."

"_I knew that Ginny's my only real potential ally out here because we'll both be targeted next." Nelson admitted. "I know she's got this unhealthy obsession, but at the moment, we need each other if either of us want to stay in the game."_

"_For someone who wears no blue, Nelson's an okay guy. That talk made me think and I know that we're gonna become best buddies if we wanna overcome the odds." Ginny said before pausing. "Yeesh. That sounds like some corny movie tagline."_

Suddenly, the Opito Tribe saw a familiar blonde figure emerge from the jungle. Everyone gathered around as SSBFreak approached.

"Since you're here, I guess that means bad news?" Jack asked.

SSBFreak nodded. "Brick hit his head hard enough to give himself a minor concussion. He's okay now, but if we let him continue the game, he'll just make it worse." The host replied.

"So that's it? You pulled Brick from the game?" Molly asked.

"Unfortunately, it's something we didn't want to do, but we were forced to anyway." SSBFreak sighed. "So, due to this unfortunate event, you guys won't be going to Tribal Council tonight, but you guys have now lost your advantage and are on equal grounds with your opponents. I'll see you all in a couple of days for the next challenge, where I hope you'll have recovered by then."

Bidding farewell, SSBFreak turned and left the tribe, walking back into the jungle and vanishing from sight. The Opito Tribe looked at each other.

"Have you guys ever had one of those days where you just really regret ever getting up?" Roscoe asked rhetorically.

"_Man. I don't know what happened. One moment I was being rolled around a playing field, and the next thing I know I'm here." Brick said, lying in a hospital bed. "I guess I got what I deserved for pushing my limits, but I really wish this didn't have to happen. I guess there are some elements of the game no one can control."_

**Voting History:**

**Brick: NO VOTE (WITHDREW)**

Author's Note: I knew Brick would be a pre-merge boot when I started, so I made sure that he had everything going for him by the time he got pulled. He wasn't targeted, he was in a sorta-comfortable alliance and he had the majority. There wasn't any real logical way to get rid of him other than a med evac.


	7. Days 15 to 17

**(Opito Tribe)**

The Opito Tribe still stood in silence, looking at the spot SSBFreak had just vanished into. It was clear that they were still in shock at what had just happened, although some had different emotions attached.

"_My main plan just hit a bump. Brick had to be evacuated and that means I've just lost a potential vote." Molly folded her arms. "I need to make absolute certain that everyone I'm aligned with makes the merge, because if I lose any more numbers, I could have a hard time getting to the end."_

"_I'm going to sound like a jerk for saying this, but Brick getting pulled from the game is exactly the second wind Ginny and I need." Nelson said. "If we had gone to Tribal Council, one of us would have gone home. Now we actually have a fighting chance."_

"So what do we do now?" Roscoe asked. "We just lost someone when we were WINNING the challenge!"

"We'll just have to hope that we can make up for this at the next Immunity challenge." Nelson replied, folding his arms. "He was right. We're now at the same level as our competitors again."

"Meaning we can't sit anyone out at challenges anymore." Jack muttered.

"At least he wasn't our strongest player." Mason pointed out. "I mean, losing him was no real big loss, was it?"

Although Nelson and Ginny agreed with the bearded man, the others didn't look very thrilled at the turn of events.

"_Losing Brick caused us to lose one of our four votes in this secret alliance. If I'm going to win this, it's going to be a lot harder now that we've just lost a potential vote." Jack mused. "Even still, this isn't impossible. We can still pull this off."_

"It's getting late. We may as well all head to bed for now and try to win the next challenges." Nelson suggested.

Everyone else agreed and went to bed, knowing that they had a rough road ahead of them now that they no longer had an advantage.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 15)**

"_Either way we look at the recent turn of events, we'll have a slight advantage. If Brick got pulled from the game, we're on equal terms with the Opito Tribe." Janine noted. "However, if Brick didn't get pulled from the game and someone else was voted off, we don't think Brick will be well enough to play at his fullest."_

"I know this is going to sound selfish, but I actually hope someone else was voted out and Brick is still in the game." Janine sighed.

"I know. It would give us a competitive advantage if Brick were to remain in the game, but if his injuries were serious enough, then there won't be any other choice." Charlotte replied.

"I still can't believe that happened." Janine shook her head.

"There are some things that nothing can be done about in a game like this." Charlotte gave a shrug before looking at Janine. "Janine, I need to talk to you about something."

"Uh…Sure."

"We can't let the fact that we're on even terms with the others distract us from beating them." Charlotte reminded. "We still need to focus on winning."

"_I've been trying to solidify a vote from Janine and Oiler for the last number of days. If I don't I know that Ruth and Anita will." Charlotte explained. "I think it's becoming apparent that Janine and Oiler are nervous to pick sides, and that's not good. I need to get on their good side before the other alliance does."_

"Janine, you and I both know that Ruth and Anita are the weakest ones left. We can afford to lose them." Charlotte explained.

"Charlotte, I think you're getting ahead of yourself." Janine insisted. "We haven't even had any challenges yet. Don't you think it'd be better if we waited to see how we fare in the next challenge before we make a choice?"

Charlotte paused, then nodded. "Okay. I can understand that you need time to chose, but just so you know, I've already made my decision." She warned.

"_I like Charlotte, but she's so focused on the game it's kinda off-putting. I mean, I see her point to eliminate the weaker players, but it's too early." Janine said. "I can understand that she wants one of us to win in the end, but there's no need for her to get ahead of herself here."_

**(Opito Tribe; Day 15)**

"Ginny, we got extremely lucky back there. If Brick didn't get evacuated, they would have targeted us for sure." Nelson pointed out.

"So what do we do? Want me to spread the joy of blue to blackbeard over there?" Ginny asked, jerking her thumb in Mason's direction.

"Tempting, but no. If we want to survive, we need to persuade a couple of the others to vote off someone else."

"_So Brick was pulled out of the game. Pity, because it seemed to me that he really liked blue." Ginny sighed. "Well, for whatever reason, the others are gonna target us because they outnumber us, which is so not fair! How could they gang up on us?! It's because I love blue, isn't it?! Oh, I'm gonna report this colour-racism!"_

"So what are the options?" Ginny asked.

"We can't target Molly. She's already been targeted twice and she's escaped elimination both times." Nelson shook his head. "Jack and Roscoe are out of the question as well. If we target one of them, the other will automatically vote against us."

"So that leaves survivorman?"

"…This may actually work out." Nelson said with a smirk.

"_I seem to recall a moment last season, where one team was persuaded to vote out their strongest player pre-merge because they were approaching the merge." Nelson said. "I know that we're getting close to the merge by now, so if I play the same card, we may be able to get Jack and Roscoe to vote out Mason."_

"It'll be a risky move, but if we can pull it off, I think we'll be in good form." Nelson pointed out.

"Sweet! So how do we do that?" Ginny asked.

"Molly is aligned with Mason, so that means we have to get the votes from Jack and Roscoe."

"_I have no problem voting out Mason. I used a good three grams of my blue powder on his beard and he had the nerve to wash it out." Ginny pointed out, looking cross. "Defiling the sacred colour means death where I come from, you know."_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_I've seen Charlotte talking with Janine. This is not good news, because I know that she's trying to target us." Ruth noted. "I've made the decision to talk to Oiler and see if we can get his vote, or at least talk it over with Janine. Anita seems to have had success by talking to him, so we know it's possible."_

Oiler stood on the beach, fishing. He looked mortified about something.

"Oiler, we need to talk." Ruth asked, coming over with Anita.

"I'm sorry my dismembered hand was on Anita's chest this morning!!" Oiler cried out. "It came off during the night and I didn't realize it!!"

Ruth and Anita froze, looked at each other, then looked at Oiler again. "…What?" Ruth asked.

"What?" Oiler asked.

"Uh…We just wanted to talk to you about strategy."

"…Oh. Okay."

_Anita sat in front of the camera, a stunned look on her face. She looked down at her chest and back at the camera again. "I…I feel violated…" She said._

"We know that Charlotte and Krash are going to target us and we need you to help us blindside them." Ruth explained. "Charlotte is an extremely-capable player, you know."

Oiler paused. "Yeah. I think I know what you're getting at. You don't want her to gain too much power." He responded.

"Right. We need to either take her out or weaken her power." Ruth replied. "You think you can vote with us and relay the message to Janine?"

"I can certainly try. Janine wants to get rid of Anita, but I think you guys have a better chance at getting my vote." Oiler admitted.

"Thank you. We'll take it for now." Ruth said.

"_Janine and I are seriously treading on thin ice. We need to decide who to align with since no one will apparently vote the way we want to." Oiler admitted. "We want to avoid the three-way deadlock, so we need to figure out who's going to get our vote if we ever go to Tribal Council again. I guess one way to avoid it is not lose…"_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_The plan for Nelson and I is to get the koopa and the rat to vote with us and vote out Mason. It'll be hard, but the power of blue will prevail." Ginny said with a smirk. "Besides, Jack and Roscoe like me. They hang out with me all of the time!"_

"Hey, Jack!" Nelson called out as he came over to where the red-clad koopa was.

"What's up, Nelson?" Jack asked back.

"Jack, I just had a thought. We're probably approaching the merge, right?"

Jack paused in thought. "Yeah. I think so." He admitted.

"I think we should get rid of Mason next, then."

The koopa blinked a few times. "Wait. Why would we get rid of him over crazy woman?" He asked.

"Because he's a threat at the merge, especially since the other team still has the cavewoman." Nelson replied. "Ginny isn't that much of a physical threat. She can go when we get to the merge."

Jack appeared to be in thought. "You have a point, man. Letting Mason into the merge would be hard enough to deal with, especially if there's already another strong player there as well." He replied.

"So we're on the same page?" Nelson asked hopefully.

"Let me run the idea by Roscoe and see what he thinks about it." Jack suggested. "Thanks for the idea, man."

"_Okay. Things are looking good. Jack seems to like the idea and that means that if we go to Tribal Council, Ginny and I will be able to slip under the radar again." Nelson explained. "We just need to hope that Jack follows through on it and likes the idea enough to vote Mason off. We've got our fingers crossed and are hoping for the best."_

"_Before Nelson came to me with that idea, I wouldn't have thought twice about voting Ginny off. However, I'm starting to get what he's thinking." Jack admitted. "Mason may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but he's still a threat. He's a way better threat than Ginny is, so maybe voting him off when we get the chance would be a better alternative."_

Night eventually rolled in. The two teams went to bed, knowing that the challenge the next day would be a test to them all.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 16)**

Krash walked over to the treemail box, alone. The rest of the tribe was scattered around the camp.

"_I know you're probably wondering why I come to collect treemail if I can't exactly read. Well, this is the only time I can get away from all the stress at camp." Krash pointed out. "All I've been hearing lately is who's getting targeted and who to align with. It's enough to blow a kremling's mind, you know?"_

Krash eventually arrived at the treemail box and looked in. Seeing an envelope, Krash pulled it out.

"Looks like we've got another challenge." Krash mused. "I'd better get someone to read it."

"_Coming onto this, my main goal was to test my survival abilities for any future battle with the Kongs." Krash admitted. "I never would have thought I would get pulled through all of this conflict like this. I mean, with two alliances at each others' throats, I wonder how coordinated we actually are…"_

"We're got treemail!" Krash called out. "Someone wanna read it?"

The others gathered around as Janine took the envelope. "It just asks how well we are at dodgeball." She explained.

"Hmm…This could be interesting." Charlotte noted with a smirk. "Considering who we're up against, we may have a good shot."

"Speak for yourself." Ruth muttered, folding her arms.

"_So our challenge is going to be about dodgeball. This shouldn't be a problem for us to win." Charlotte pointed out. "The only real athletic person the other team has is Mason, while Jack, Roscoe and Nelson are only semi-threats. I assure you that we will return victorious by demolishing the other team."_

"_Seriously? Dodgeball? Do I LOOK athletic?" Ruth asked. "The kids play that game! I don't!"_

**(Opito Tribe; Day 16)**

Mason scratched his head as he tried drawing in the sand with a stick, trying to draw the way Nelson did. Molly saw him and came over. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Nelson said that he tended to do this to pass the time, so I thought I'd try and see if it was any fun." Mason replied.

Molly looked at what Nelson had drawn. In comparison to Nelson's drawings, this was a poor attempt and whatever Mason was drawing was probably something completely different than what it was supposed to look like.

"_I don't know how Nelson does it. Not only am I puzzled at how detailed his drawings come out, but I'm stumped at how he finds that fun." Mason scratched his head. "I mean, if I did that on the field of battle, I'd be a sitting duck."_

"_Mason draws like a fifth-grader." An amused Molly said with a smirk. "Somehow, I'm not that surprised."_

Meanwhile, Ginny was approaching the treemail box. Peering inside, the blue-haired woman saw an envelope, which she promptly snatched from the box.

"Alright! New challenge!" Ginny said.

"_The era of blue is almost at hand. When the time comes, everyone shall see that blue is the only way to go." Ginny said with a smirk. "BOW TO THE BLUE, UNBELIEVERS!! Blue shall be the dominant colour in everything as we know it! To prove this, I shall single-handedly beat the other team in this challenge to show you all the power of blue!"_

"We've got some treemail! Looks like it has something to do with dodgeball!" Ginny pointed out.

Jack smirked. "Sweet. That's something I can totally exceed in." He said.

"Hmm…I think the odds are in our favour." Nelson pointed out. "I mean, we're on equal terms with the others and I think our overall skill level is around the same."

"_A dodgeball challenge seems to put us on equal grounds, both with strengths and weaknesses. We have Molly, they have Ruth. We have Mason, they have Janine. We have Ginny, they have Anita." Roscoe explained. "We know that if we want to win, we're gonna need to take out all of the threats first."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Eleda Tribe stood on their mat on the beach, waiting to see what the final verdict was on Brick.

"Let's bring out the Opito Tribe." SSBFreak said.

The Opito Tribe emerged from the jungle, and everyone noticed that Brick was no longer among them.

"Brick's injuries were too serious and he had to be pulled from the game." SSBFreak explained.

A few members of the Eleda Tribe looked disappointed (for varied reasons) as their opponents stepped onto their mat.

"Today's Reward Challenge will be a simple game of dodgeball, six-on-six." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw that a makeshift dodgeball court had been set up on the beach. "The rules are simple: Get hit with the ball and you're out. We've even upped the ante and there will be a total of three dodgeballs on the court at once. The team with at least one person remaining will win Reward." SSBFreak explained. "Today's Reward will be two large bags of rice, which I'm sure will be a welcome taste to a good majority of you."

The two teams looked at each other determinedly, knowing that everyone would be wanting the reward.

"If you'll all step onto your sides of the court, we can get started."

**(Later…)**

The two teams stood on opposite ends of the court, staring each other down. Due to a coin toss, the Opito Tribe was starting with two of the three dodgeballs. Mason, Roscoe and Charlotte had the balls and were ready to throw.

"Okay. For Reward, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!!"

All three of the balls were thrown at once. Ginny jumped over Charlotte's while Janine and Krash dodged the ones thrown by Opito. Janine promptly scooped up the ball that was thrown at her and took aim while Krash gathered the other one.

"Let's see how many of those guys can dodge this." Janine said to herself as she fired a missile straight at the opposing team. Jack, Nelson and Molly had to jump out of the way to avoid the ball that had been thrown harder than any of them could.

"Go for Janine first!" Jack called out as Molly grabbed the ball and handed it to Roscoe. "There's no way we can win against those throws!"

"On it!" Roscoe replied as he threw the ball at Janine. The cavewoman easily avoided the ball.

Meanwhile, Mason picked up a ball that had been thrown at him. Taking aim, Mason tried to replicate Janine's throw and hurled it at the other team, but failed to even come close to the speed of Janine's throw. All Oiler had to do was lift his leg to avoid being hit with the ball.

Mason was suddenly aware that Eleda now had all three of the balls. Janine, Oiler and Krash were all grinning viciously at him.

"Uh..." That was all Mason could get out before two of the balls hit him in the face, knocking him down. Krash had thrown his at Ginny, whom dodged.

"Mason is the first one out!" SSBFreak said.

"Crap!" Jack cursed. "Keep targeting Janine! We need her out!"

"Of all the times to be a strong player." Janine muttered to herself.

"Start picking them off." Charlotte directed as she scooped up a ball. "We've got this."

Anita tried throwing one of the balls, but didn't manage to get a good shot in and the ball soared aimlessly past Nelson's head. "Drat." The blonde girl muttered. "I've never been good with this."

Ruth picked up a ball and prepared to throw it. However, just as she was about to hurl it as best as she could, she was hit in the shoulder by a second ball (courtesy of Ginny).

"Ruth is out!"

Ruth groaned and tossed the ball she was holding to Charlotte as she left the court to stand by Mason.

Nelson grabbed the ball Anita had thrown at him. The Ghostbuster took aim at Janine and waited until Jack had thrown the ball at her. As Janine blocked Jack's throw, Nelson hurled the ball he had, striking the unprepared Janine in the side.

"Janine is out!"

Janine shot Nelson a dirty look as Jack laughed. "Sweet technique, man!" He said to Nelson. "Think you can keep it up?"

"I'll try." Nelson nodded.

Krash picked up the ball that Janine had dropped on her way off the court. "Okay. Shouldn't be too hard. I just gotta hit someone with it." He told himself. Deciding that Jack was the best player, Krash threw it at him.

Jack's eyes widened behind his shades as he ducked under the ball. Unfortunately, Roscoe was directly behind him and took Krash's ball to the face. At the same time, Molly had been hit with a ball from Charlotte.

"Roscoe and Molly are both out!"

"I've never been good at this." Molly sighed sadly (or at least that's what she was pretending to do).

This left Ginny, Jack and Nelson left for Opito, while Charlotte, Anita, Oiler and Krash were remaining on Eleda. Currently, all three of the remaining Opito players had a ball as the Eleda players looked anxious to move.

"Who do we go for?" Nelson asked.

"Go for blondie! She's not wearing blue!" Ginny shouted as she hurled her ball at Anita.

Anita shrieked and ducked under Ginny's ball. However, she got hit in the back by Jack's ball, as the koopa didn't want to pass up the opportunity.

"Anita is out!"

As Anita hobbled off the court, Charlotte grabbed the ball that had eliminated the blonde and ducked under Nelson's ball.

"Comrades, hit them with all you've got!" Charlotte ordered as she hurled her ball at Ginny.

The blue-haired girl quickly dodged Charlotte's ball and stuck her tongue out. "Nah nah! Missed me!" She taunted.

Right after she said that, Ginny got hit in the face with a ball, this one from Krash. Ginny, dazed, fell to the ground.

"Ginny is out!"

Jack growled and looked at Nelson. "Looks like it's just you and me." He said. "Dodge like you never dodged before!"

Nelson nodded as he picked up the ball that had just eliminated Ginny. "I'm up for a little payback." He said.

Nelson threw the ball with all his might, surprising Krash and hitting him in the arm, eliminating the kremling.

"Krash is out!"

Oiler narrowed his eyes and pulled his arm back, preparing to throw a ball. "You two are going to-" He said just before Jack threw a ball at him, striking him in the arm and knocking it from its socket. "…Oh."

"Oiler is out!"

Charlotte growled to herself. It was now her against both Jack and Nelson. The German woman gripped a ball in her hands and looked between targets. She saw that Nelson had the third ball and had just thrown it at her.

"I think not, comrade!" Charlotte shouted as she threw herself to the side, dodging Nelson's ball and throwing hers at the same time. Nelson, caught off guard by this, took the ball to the face and fell backwards.

"Nelson is out!"

This just left two people on the field: Jack and Charlotte. The two stared down each other, each holding a ball. The third ball, which had just eliminated Nelson, rolled towards the middle line of the court. The eliminated players waited with anticipation to see who would act first.

Both Jack and Charlotte threw their balls at the same time and made a break for the center of the court, where the third ball was. The two thrown balls bounced harmlessly off each other and ricocheted across the court, leaving the third ball wide open for taking. Both players dove at the ball.

Jack was a fraction of a second faster. As Charlotte landed face-first onto the ground, Jack grabbed the ball and instantly threw it down, bouncing it off Charlotte's head.

"That's it! Charlotte's out!" SSBFreak announced. "Opito wins Reward!"

The Opito Tribe cheered as Jack threw his arms into the air in victory. Charlotte hit the ground with her fist in annoyance.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Opito. Enjoy the two bags of rice." SSBFreak said as Jack and Roscoe each picked up a large bag of rice. He turned to the disappointed Eleda Tribe. "Eleda, you guys may have lost Reward, but remember that this wasn't the essential Immunity Challenge, which you should hope that you do better on. I'll see you all tomorrow for that, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

Everyone dispersed and returned to the jungle, going in different directions to await the next challenge.

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_It took sixteen days, but we finally managed to win a freaking Reward Challenge." Jack said with a smirk. "And the sweetest part? I actually scored the winning point. Okay. This is good because it'll build up our confidence for tomorrow's Immunity Challenge."_

"That was almost too close." Nelson shook his head. "A second later and she would have had you, man."

"Well, what's important is that she didn't and I got the ball first." Jack replied with a smirk. "And now we've got a little something extra to have at supper with the fish."

"_I know Jack has the right to feel proud that he won us the challenge, but he doesn't want to let it get to his head." Nelson pointed out. "Jack's already got a big ego. I don't think him boasting about a challenge win would be good for him. Then again, maybe I underestimate Jack and he's actually got more self-control than that…"_

Ginny opened up one of the bags and looked inside, staring at the white rice. Ginny silently pulled her pouch of blue powder from her pocket, which Roscoe promptly took away from her. "Hey!" She said.

"You're not turning the rice blue, Ginny." Roscoe said. "We worked hard enough earning this stuff."

"You're saying that the blue will ruin it?!" Ginny demanded. "How can you say such a thing?!"

"_What's wrong with these people?! Do they not appreciate the blue?!" Ginny demanded. "I've been trying to show these people the way ever since we started, and all they've done is shun me! I won't stand for this outrage!"_

"Well, I'm starved! How about I catch us some fish and we eat?" Mason asked.

"Sounds good, but actually C ATCH something this time, man." Roscoe said with a smirk.

Mason pouted as he sulked off to the beach.

"I'll help you, Mason." Molly said as she followed Mason.

"_I've heard of this saying that you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer. If I abided by that, Urtha and Shamus would still be here and my secret would have been found out." Molly explained. "Mason may be an idiot, but he's still my ally. I need to make sure he and I both make the merge, or else I'll be in hot water later on, even with my other alliance."_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_Well, that didn't quite go as well as I had hoped. It had come down to me and Jack, and he had the faster draw." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I hate losing, because it makes me feel that I should have tried harder to win. Oh, well. It wasn't an Immunity Challenge, but I still can't help but feel let-down that we lost."_

"Man. We lost." Anita sighed. "I…I thought you had him there."

"So did I. Apparently, I was wrong." Charlotte shook her head.

"Ah, don't get worked up about it." Krash shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, it was just a Reward Challenge, right? It's not like we're voting someone off now, right?"

"That may be so, but the Reward was still something we could have used." Janine reminded.

"_Why is everyone so upset that we lost a challenge that doesn't really matter? I mean, if it was for a fishing rod or something real useful, I could see what the deal would be." Krash shrugged. "But the reward was just a couple of bags of rice. We can live on fruit and fish just fine, can't we?"_

"_I was honestly expecting us to lose. It was a dodgeball challenge and, just as I had predicted, I was completely useless in a game like that." Ruth sighed. "That's my biggest weakness here aside from my old age. I'm probably the least-athletic person here."_

"Well, what's done is done. What we should probably do now is focus on winning the Immunity Challenge tomorrow." Ruth explained.

"Yeah. The others will probably be so pumped that that won the challenge today that we may actually have an advantage." Janine nodded.

"Then we'll make sure to use that to our advantage and catch them all off guard." Charlotte said with a smirk. "Hopefully, it'll be something physical."

"Um…I…I don't hope that." Anita said timidly.

"_T-There ARE other ways to win challenges than simply o-out-muscling the other team, you know." Anita pointed out. "I-I-I mean, there's trivia, puzzles and endurance challenges, so it's n-not like strength tests are o-our only way."_

Eventually, night rolled in. The two teams, knowing that there was a challenge tomorrow, went to bed to prepare for it.

**(Opito Tribe; Day 17)**

"_We won the Reward Challenge yesterday, which means we're off to a good start. We just need to repeat the process and we're golden." Roscoe said. "None of us know what the challenge is gonna be, but we all agree that we have to be prepared for anything."_

"So Nelson says that we should target Mason?" Roscoe asked.

"He says that we're approaching the merge, and he's probably right." Jack responded. "I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to go against both him and the cavewoman after the merge."

"Neither am I, but I think we're overlooking a key point."

"What's that?"

"Molly."

"_Crap. This puts us in a major dilemma. Roscoe and I have to choose sides. If we vote against Nelson, we run the risk of going against Mason at the merge." Jack explained. "On the other hand, if we vote WITH Nelson, we lose Molly's potential vote for getting rid of her friend."_

"Looks like we've got treemail." Nelson said as he came over.

"What type of challenge is it?" Mason asked.

"The mail never gives specifics, man. You should know that by now." Nelson replied. "It just says 'Who's hungry'?"

Molly froze. "Oh, no. Does this mean what I think it does?" She asked.

"I certainly hope not." Nelson added, shaking his head with wide eyes.

Mason looked back and forth between the two. "Why? What is it?" He asked.

"_If this challenge turns out to be the Survivor eating challenge, it'll be the one challenge I was hoping we wouldn't come across." Molly noted, looking mad. "Not only do I have a weak stomach, but some of the stuff I saw last season's cast eat I would even touch!"_

"We may as well head out and hope it's not the eating challenge." Nelson noted.

"Judging by what the clue hints at, don't hold your breath." Jack warned.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 17)**

"So Anita and Ruth are starting to persuade you?" Janine asked Oiler as the two walked to the treemail box.

"They make a good point. I mean, putting Charlotte in control of the tribe may not be the smartest thing to do." Oiler shrugged.

"I suppose not, but we can't deny that Anita and Ruth are far weaker compared to Charlotte and Krash."

"_Oiler and I know we'll have to make a choice on which of the two alliances to join, but we have no idea which would benefit us more in the future." Janine pointed out. "It would probably be easier to make the decision if we knew where the merge was going to show up."_

"_I REALLY wish we didn't have to make this decision. I've been putting it off for a long time now." Oiler noted, scratching his head. "We know that we need to break the tie if we lose Immunity or else we'd be at a three-way deadlock, and none of us want that to happen, less we risk losing an ally."_

Janine reached into the treemail box and pulled out a letter. "Looks like we're going to the next Immunity Challenge." She said.

"I just hope we win. I haven't made a decision yet." Oiler replied.

"You and me both."

The two returned to camp and alerted everyone to the new treemail. The tribe gathered around Janine as she read the letter.

"It's just asking if anyone's hungry." Janine pointed out.

"Great! I'm starving!" Krash said excitedly. "We finally get to eat something!"

"Uh…This is the type of challenge that we usually like to avoid, Krash." Charlotte pointed out. "If this is what I think it is, we'll have to stomach unbearable food."

"But it's still food, right?"

"_This is the type of challenge I was hoping to avoid. Some of the things the youngsters eat back home I can't even bear to look at." Ruth shook her head. "We just need to hope that the odds will be in our favour and we'll win."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two tribes emerged from the jungle and walked into a clearing. Seeing their mats, the opposing teams stepped on to await the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Today, we have a fan-favourite challenge from the actual show. And when I say fan-favourite, I mean not castaway-favourite: The Survivor Buffet!" SSBFreak announced. Almost everyone let out a collective groan as they saw a table behind the host with two covered dishes on it. "The rules are simple: Down the mystery dish before your opponent. You will go one-on-one and the first to four points will win Immunity." He explained. "To make things fair, we will make sure that no one will receive a dish from their home world. Now if you guys will choose the order of who will eat, we can get started."

**(Later…)**

The first two up to bat were Nelson and Charlotte. The two stared each other down, although Nelson occasionally glanced at the still-covered dish.

"Round one is Nelson vs. Charlotte. Here's the first dish, which is something Roscoe may be familiar with." SSBFreak said as he uncovered the dishes. "A small bowl of red hot chili."

Roscoe's eye twitched. "W-What?! You're making people EAT that stuff?!" He asked.

"How bad can it be?" Charlotte asked.

"I WORK at the chili factory and I wouldn't touch it!!"

Although they looked a little nervous now, Nelson and Charlotte started to eat the chili. Nelson coughed and wheezed almost instantly, but Charlotte managed to stomach it long enough to keep eating. Nelson tried to catch up and started eating faster.

However, it was to no avail. Charlotte finished the small bowl of chili long before Nelson got close. The German woman stepped away from the table to signify that she had finished.

"And Charlotte wins, bringing Eleda into an early lead of 1-0!"

"Was it bad?" Krash asked as Charlotte returned.

"Definitely. The sad thing is that it's not the WORST thing I've eaten." Charlotte shook her head.

Jack and Anita stared at each other, Jack narrowing his eyes in determination behind his shades. This seemed to make Anita even more nervous.

"Round two is Jack vs. Anita. The dish is something that is grown where Ruth lives constantly." SSBFreak said as he uncovered the dishes. "Banya."

Ruth's eyes widened. "Wait. RAW banya?!" She asked. Her question went unanswered.

Jack and Anita bit into their dishes, quickly finding the raw banya to be incredibly crunchy and low on flavor. Even through this, the two kept on eating, knowing that their teams needed the point. However, Jack was more determined due to his team being behind and managed to finish his dish before his opponent could.

"Jack ties it up at 1-1!"

"Sweet. We've got a chance." Roscoe nodded with a smirk.

"Man. Anyone got any water?" Jack asked. "That stuff was dry."

Mason stood tall as he stared down Ruth. The elderly Raposa lifted an eyebrow at him as he stood over her.

"Can I help you?" Ruth asked sarcastically.

"You can give up now." Mason replied with a smirk.

"Round three is Mason vs. Ruth. Even though Brick had to be pulled from the game, this next dish is something he would be extremely familiar with." SSBFreak announced as he uncovered the dishes. "Pizza from Lego Island."

"You kidding? This'll be a snap!" Mason said as he bit down on his slice of pizza, only to hear a crunching sound. He yelped. "Is this made out of Lego or something?!"

"Not quite. More like an edible Lego." SSBFreak shrugged.

Ruth was managing to eat the pizza forcibly while Mason was talking to SSBFreak. The elderly Raposa easily slipped past Mason while he was distracted and choked down the last of the Lego pizza. "I'm done." She announced after a cough.

SSBFreak looked down in surprise. "So you are. Ruth gives Eleda a lead with 2-1!" He announced.

"Dude, what was that?!" Jack asked as Mason came over.

"What?!" Mason asked in defense.

Roscoe shook his head and approached the table, finding that his opponent was Janine. The cavewoman smirked. "Ready to lose?" She asked.

"I'm full of surprises, lady." Roscoe warned.

"Round four is Roscoe vs. Janine. This dish is something that is said frequently by a photographer in Earthbound, but never seen." SSBFreak said as he uncovered the dishes. "A fuzzy pickle."

Ginny laughed. "Holy crap! Those things actually EXIST?!" She asked. "And here I was thinking it was some photographer conspiracy!"

This did nothing to make Roscoe or Janine feel better, but they managed to start eating relatively quickly. The two quickly struggled because of the poor taste, but they managed to persevere and kept eating. However, the victory could only go to one, and Janine managed to finish eating her dish first. The cavewoman coughed a couple of times, but backed away from the table.

"Janine furthers Eleda's lead with a score of 3-1!"

Roscoe coughed. "Mac, there's NO way that was a pickle!" He snapped as he turned and went back to his team.

Ginny and Oiler were next. The blue-haired woman and the test dummy stared down each other, Ginny with dislike because Oiler wasn't wearing blue.

"Opito is in a predicament. They need to win this round to stay in the game, otherwise Eleda wins. Round five is Ginny vs. Oiler." SSBFreak explained as he uncovered the dishes, revealing a couple of leafs. "This next dish is something from Jack's world: A Raccoon Leaf!"

"Uh…Those aren't for eating." Jack pointed out. He was ignored.

Ginny and Oiler started eating the leaf, quickly finding that the leaf had the texture of a normal leaf. The two coughed and tried to swallow their dish, having trouble along the way. They both knew that victory relied on them, and that made them try harder. However, one of the competitors soon finished their dish, and a cloud of smoke engulfed the winner with a poof.

The smoke cleared and Oiler now had raccoon ears and a tail, weirding out most of the people there.

"Oiler has scored Eleda's final point! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Eleda wins Immunity!"

The Eleda Tribe cheered as Oiler looked at the tail he had just grown with wide eyes.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations, Eleda Tribe. You're all safe for tonight and none of you will be eliminated." SSBFreak said as he casually poked Oiler once with a stick, quickly getting rid of the raccoon features. Once he did, SSBFreak looked at the losing team. "Opito, you guys will be going to Tribal Council again tonight, where you'll be voting someone on your team out of the game. I'm afraid this, in addition to Brick's evacuation, will put you guys at a one-man disadvantage when the smoke clears."

SSBFreak stepped back and looked at everyone, mainly the Opito Tribe. "I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decision, so for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Opito Tribe)**

"That was pathetic." Jack moaned. "They DEMOLISHED us back there!"

"_We lost Immunity, and I can tell that some of the others are mad at me for losing to the old lady. Hey, the challenge caught me off guard!" Mason insisted. "I know I'll probably be getting votes tonight, so I say we focus on Ginny."_

"Ginny cost us the win, right?" Mason asked. "We can afford to lose her, right?"

"I know. I'm just worried that they'll target you because you didn't look like you were trying." Molly admitted.

"But I tried! You believe me, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"_No, I don't believe for a second that Mason was actually trying, but I have a feeling the outcome would have been the same either way." Molly rolled her eyes. "Even still, I need to make sure Jack and Roscoe vote for Ginny tonight. I'm sure they'll see things my way in the end."_

"Mason needs to go." Nelson informed Jack and Roscoe. "He hasn't been as useful in challenges as he'd probably like to believe."

"I know. That loss he had to Ruth was just stupid." Jack shook his head. "But he IS a stronger player."

"But by how much? Whenever we've had a physical challenge, the cavewoman always pulled out on top." Nelson reminded.

"I KNOW I can be a better player than blackbeard!" Ginny assured. "You guys just need to give me a chance!"

Jack and Roscoe looked at each other with strange glances.

"_I wanna stay, so I need to make sure that I appeal to the others, even if they hate blue. It'll be painful, but like I said, I wanna stay." Ginny explained. "Of course, Nelson's been doing his best to keep me around, and for that I think I can help him see the beauty of blue easier."_

As Nelson and Ginny left, Jack and Roscoe looked at each other again. "What do we do?" Roscoe asked. "Either way we vote, we get screwed."

"I know. The real question is which choice will lead to more benefits for us in the future?" Jack asked.

The two stood in silence, as if pondering the problem.

"_Jack and I aren't in the best of positions. We can either vote off the woman that drives us crazy at camp, or the guy that appears strong, but is near-useless in challenges." Roscoe pointed out. "However, Jack and I have a different factor in making the choice. We want to win, and we need to decide which alliance will help us more. This is gonna be rough."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The six remaining Opito members entered Tribal Council, once again carrying lit torches. Finding their spots on the dwindling number of stumps, everyone sat down and waited for the council to start.

"Welcome to Tribal Council, Opito Tribe. In a moment, you'll all be voting out one of your own, ejecting him or her from the game." SSBFreak explained as he started asking questions. "Roscoe, first you guys lose Brick, and now you're back here tonight. What do you think has been happening considering that you've been ahead of the others since we started?"

"We've been getting real bad luck in the important challenges." Roscoe replied. "I mean, we won the Reward Challenge, so that means that we're capable."

"Why do you think you've been losing?"

"Nothing but bad luck. The Immunity Challenges just haven't been benefitting us."

"Mason, at the Immunity Challenge, you lost badly to Ruth. Is anyone blaming you for it?" SSBFreak asked.

"A few people are, but I really don't think I deserve to go over it." Mason explained. "That challenge just didn't play to my skills."

"What challenge could you have done better in?"

"Something physical." Mason replied.

"We've had a physical challenge before. You didn't exactly beat everyone then." Nelson accused. "And then at the dodgeball challenge, you were the first one out!"

"Hey! I'm just not used to things out here! I'm more used to fighting Locust!" Mason insisted.

Nelson sat back. "I'm sure you are." He said as he folded his arms.

"Ginny, it seemed that you were the one to cost your team the win." SSBFreak reminded. "Anything to say in your defense?"

"You were making us eat a leaf! And it wasn't even blue!" Ginny replied. "If I had the time to paint it blue, I would have scarfed it down!"

"But you didn't."

"I was on a time limit. Fall-apart was already eating his."

"Jack, it seems that the tribe is split for voting. What's going on?" SSBFreak asked.

"Roscoe and I either need to vote for Mason or Ginny. We either vote out the insane woman or the guy that apparently isn't as helpful as he claims to be." Jack responded.

"I am SO useful! You guys don't appreciate me!" Mason shot back.

"We'd appreciate you more if you actually provided skills we could appreciate!" Jack replied, annoyed.

"Take that back!" Mason roared.

"That's enough. I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak explained. "Molly, you're up."

Molly got up and left the hut to go to the voting table. She shook her head in hopelessness as she wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Jack bit his lip, as if tempted by something. "I gotta stick with the plan." He told himself as he wrote a name down and voted.

Ginny approached the table and wrote a name down, showing it to the camera. "Get out of here you blue-hater." She said, having voted for Mason.

Nelson sighed as he wrote a name down. "I hope that little outburst helped our cause." He said to the camera as he placed his ballot into the urn.

Mason growled and wrote a name down. "I wish I could vote for Jack, but then I wouldn't have a chance." He said, having voted for Ginny.

Roscoe walked up to the table last, still in thought. After a brief temptation of reconsider, Roscoe wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

After everyone had voted, SSBFreak left the hut and returned a short while later with the urn. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes."

"…First vote, Ginny." The blue-haired woman cast a glare at Mason.

"Mason." Mason gave a glare right back.

"Ginny." Ginny did an 'I'm-watching-you' expression to Mason.

"Mason. That's two votes for both Ginny and Mason." Mason held his breath.

"…Ginny." Ginny narrowed her eyes and Nelson sighed. "Last vote and seventh person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Ginny. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Ginny sighed and stood up, but not before pulled her pouch of blue powder from her pocket and handing it to the depressed Nelson. "Here, buddy. Spread the love." She said as she grabbed her torch and brought it to the host.

"Ginny, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Ginny's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"**VIVA LA BLUE!!"** Ginny proclaimed proudly, holding a fist into the air as she marched out of the hut.

Once Ginny had gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining five Opito members. "You guys went from a one-person advantage to a one-person disadvantage over the course of five days. Only time will tell if this decision of yours was the best choice." He explained. "With Ginny gone, seven people have been eliminated, and we still haven't reached the merge yet. You guys need to hope that you don't lose the next challenges, because they could prove to be essential to your victory as a tribe. Until then, you can all head back to camp."

The five Opito players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Nelson brought up the rear, head held low and Ginny's pouch of powder in his hand. He had officially lost all of his allies and now he was truly fighting an uphill battle. He needed to kick things into high-gear if he wanted to have any chance at surviving.

"_Overall, the experience was good. I'm just sorry I wasn't able to find any real converts out here and I was probably taken out because I was being a little too forward." Ginny admitted. "Nelson, I'm rooting for ya. I'll be sure to put in a good word for you with my superiors when I get back home."_

**Voting History:**

**Ginny – Jack, Mason, Molly and Roscoe**

**Mason – Ginny and Nelson**

Author's Note: And so ends the run of the blue-obsessed woman, but Ginny was planned to be a pre-merge boot from the start. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed writing for Ginny. However, I knew right off the bat that Ginny wouldn't be able to hold a candle to Sandy and she was expendable after that.


	8. Days 18 to 19

**(Opito Tribe)**

Overall, the tribe looked indifferent when they returned to camp. There were only two exceptions: Mason and Nelson. Mason was glaring at Jack while Nelson walked over to the fire pit and sat down, his head low.

"_First Urtha, then Shamus, and now Ginny. It's official; I'm now a one-man army against everyone else here." Nelson said. "Now that Jack and Roscoe are apparently sided with the others, I know I'm next unless we win the next Immunity Challenge."_

Nelson fingered the pouch of blue powder Ginny had given him before shoving it into his pocket. "Maybe I can annoy a few of the others by turning a few things blue." He chuckled to himself.

Meanwhile, Mason was over with Molly, not looking very pleased. "Molly, we need to target Jack next." He explained.

"W-Wait. I thought we were going after Nelson." Molly reminded.

"Jack called me useless! After everything I've been through in life, no one has the right to call me useless!" Mason said.

"_Jack had the nerve to call me useless at Tribal Council. That was the first and last straw for me." Mason pointed out. "I don't care if Molly votes otherwise. The next time we go to Tribal Council, I'm voting Jack and am going to see if I can get anyone else to vote with me."_

"_Normally, I have Mason wrapped around my finger, but since Jack decided to open his big mouth, Mason has his mind set on revenge." Molly moaned. "This isn't good. Jack just caused a little bit of friction and if Mason finds out that I'm aligned with him, I may lose his vote."_

"Jack, why'd you say those things at Tribal Council?" Molly asked.

"I need to get it off my chest and I've been holding it in forever." Jack responded. "I know he got upset, but I just needed to put him in his place."

"Now he's real mad at you, though."

"Ah, let him. I could probably out-muscle him anyway, despite what he says otherwise." Jack shrugged.

"_We want Mason to go next, and what better way to get Molly to join us in voting him out than to get him to lash out?" Jack asked with a smirk. "The angrier he gets, the more Molly will be willing to eliminate him. If she willingly eliminates Mason, then Molly will have no problem voting with us in the future."_

Everyone decided to go to bed, knowing that they'd have a rough day ahead of them.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 18)**

"_We managed to win Immunity yesterday, and that gives us a reprieve for choosing a side. I know Oiler and I will have to make the choice eventually, but at least we have a little more time." Janine pointed out. "Of course, this means that everyone will be breathing down our necks even more, but you take what you get."_

Janine walked over to Oiler, whom was fishing by the beach. "Anything biting?" She asked.

"Not yet." Oiler replied. "I just hope I catch something soon. That food we ate yesterday was none too appetizing."

"Seen any of the others yet?" Janine asked.

"I've seen Charlotte, but I think the others are still asleep." Oiler said. "Anita slept outside the shelter again."

"I know. I saw her when I woke up." Janine nodded. "I think she's worried that she'll scare us all half to death with her-"

A shrill scream erupted from near the shelter, getting the attention of both Janine and Oiler.

"Okay, I seriously think that kid needs therapy." Janine said as she ran towards the shelter.

"I'm pretty sure she's already tried that!" Oiler called after her.

"_The problem with sleeping in is that we run the risk of waking up when Anita has one of her nightmares." Krash moaned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I know she can't help it, but I guess it's more of a reminder to the rest of us to get up before her."_

Anita was once again curled into a ball, clutching her knees fearfully and her eyes wide with terror. She let out a terrified whimper as she rocked back and forth, trying to calm herself. Ruth was instantly trying to comfort her. However, as the elderly Raposa was doing so, Charlotte looked over and folded her arms.

"Was it the nightmare again?" Ruth asked. Anita gave a nod, whimpering at the same time. "How long have you been suffering like this?" Anita didn't seem to be capable of forming an answer.

"_Back on day 3, we voted out someone because he ridiculed Anita's nightmares. Now, I'm starting to see his point." Charlotte said. "If Anita keeps having these nightmares, it'll become a hindrance for the rest of us. I'm going to need to decide who should get the boot in the end, because I don't know who we could do better without more."_

**(Opito Tribe; Day 18)**

Roscoe jumped awake at the sound of Anita's scream from across the island. "What the heck is making those noises?!" He asked.

Molly moaned as she slowly got up. "I was hoping we'd heard the last of it." She admitted.

"_We don't know what's been making these weird noises. They tend to only happen in the morning, and only once in a while." Roscoe explained. "I wish we knew what was making those noises. Without something to attach the noise to, we may start thinking the island is haunted."_

The scream had gotten everyone asleep to wake up. However, when they left the shelter, the majority of the remaining Opito players saw two distinctive figures standing aside, yelling at each other.

"You had some nerve calling me useless, Jack!" Mason shouted. "I'll have you know that I was forced to sneak through a Locust-infested building with a dying partner on my back!"

"If you've got skills of survival, then how come we've never seen them?!" Jack asked. "Seriously, why have you been doing so poorly in these challenges?!"

"None of these challenges have benefitted me yet!"

"_Jack has seriously got to learn to watch what he says! I happen to take insults to the heart, and what he said makes him unforgivable in my eyes." Mason explained. "I had to tell him what I thought of his insults, and he just shot back. To me, that's another nail on the coffin."_

"_Mason decided to open his big mouth first. He came to me this morning, shouting that he'd have his revenge." Jack groaned. "Well, I'm not one to take being talked down to very lightly, so I did what I think anyone else would have done in my shoes and told him off even louder."_

"Does Mason always take insults like that?" Roscoe asked.

"Well, I wouldn't know. I've never seen him like this before." Molly shook her head.

Meanwhile, Nelson sat in the shelter, looking thoughtful. A smirk floated across his face as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"_Maybe I don't need to work as hard on getting a vote." Nelson pointed out. "Jack and Mason seem to be doing a good enough job on their own. Maybe they don't even NEED my help."_

**(Eleda Tribe)**

Anita was still looking mortified, but she had now moved from the shelter to the beach, sitting in the sand. Even still, she was still breathing heavily and holding onto herself for protection.

"Feeling any better, Anita?" Ruth asked as she came over.

"…N-N-No…" Anita whimpered.

"_I don't know what caused Anita to be this way, even this long into the competition. If it hasn't happened by now, I don't think it's happening at all." Ruth sighed. "It's a pity, but it's her choice for not opening up to anyone about what's giving her these nightmares in the first place."_

_Anita sat on the stump, staring into the camera with wide eyes. She opened her mouth, as if trying to say something, only to close it again. After opening and closing her mouth a few more times, Anita got up and quickly left the camera's view._

Meanwhile, Oiler was still trying to fish. However, as he was, a familiar Kremling suddenly burst from the water.

"Hey! I got some fish! I caught a fish!" Krash announced gleefully as he rushed to shore with a large fish in his hands. He darted past Oiler, whom looked at the fishing rod in his hands questioningly.

"_There are a number of perks to being a Kremling. I can hold my breath underwater longer, I can swim easier and I can see clearly even underneath the waves!" Krash said. "Catching fish that way is a lot more fun than trying the normal way!"_

As the team was eating the caught fish later on, Charlotte gave Krash a glance that told the Kremling that they needed to talk. Krash quickly set his food down and followed Charlotte away from the others.

"What is it, Charlotte?" Krash asked.

"I'm worried about our target selection. I think we may have to target Anita." Charlotte replied.

"But why? I thought you said that Ruth was the weaker player." Krash reminded.

"She is, but Anita is having those nightmares again." The German woman replied. "If she wakes us up like that on the day of a challenge, we're not going to function at our full capacity."

Krash gave Charlotte a blank stare. "…Huh?"

"_I'm aware that I'm probably not going to be well-liked for picking on Anita, but the fact remains that she's weaker by comparison to the rest of us." Charlotte said. "We'll have to see how well we do in the challenge, but for now, my sights have shifted from Ruth to Anita at the moment."_

"_Is Charlotte even capable of sticking with a thought? One moment she says that she wants to target Ruth and the next she's talking about voting out Anita." Krash said, holding his head. "Why is she doing this?! My mind can't comprehend something of this level!"_

**(Opito Tribe)**

"_With Jack and Nelson at each others' throats, I feel that I'll have an easier time getting the others to vote my way." Nelson explained. "Something like this is what I REALLY need, especially since I'm all alone now."_

"You think it'd be wise to vote out Mason now?" Nelson asked Roscoe.

"It's possible. I know you're just trying to put ideas into my head for votes, though." Roscoe replied.

"You guys eliminated all my allies. I'm literally by myself at this point."

"Yeah. That being said, Mason's elimination is looking pretty appealing at the moment."

"_Nelson's so determined to stick around and he knows it. I have to say that I admire his determination." Roscoe admitted. "I mean, he's gotta go eventually, but maybe targeting Mason first wouldn't be such a bad idea."_

"You'd side with Jack. I know that." Nelson explained. "That makes it a 3-2 vote against Mason."

"Well, tell ya what. I'll think about it and tell Jack about it later." Roscoe offered. "I'm sure he'd be willing to vote Mason off after the whole argument they've been having today."

"I know. I just wish the two of them would stop talking. It's giving me a headache."

"_Another reason I want to get rid of Mason is because it'll break him up from Jack and things will be quiet again." Nelson admitted. "It may have only just started, but I'm already missing the quiet around here."_

Mason stood at the beach alone, casting another line out to try and catch a fish. So far, he had been having no luck. Everyone knew that he was visibly angry, so they decided not to bother Mason for now and let him have his space.

"_I've been trying to come up with ways to get the others to vote Jack off. I know I can persuade Nelson to vote with me because he's already alone." Mason explained. "And I know I've got Molly's vote. I can turn this game around on Jack and Roscoe, but I don't know how I'm going to do it."_

Eventually, night arrived. Knowing that they'd have a challenge the next day, everyone went to bed.

**(Eleda Tribe; Day 19)**

"Hey, Anita! Krash! Can we talk about something?" Oiler asked as he approached the beach where Anita was fishing and Krash was sitting down.

"Uh…Sure, big guy." Krash greeted. "What's up?"

"_We're having a challenge today. Reward or Immunity we don't know, but we're sure there's going to be one." Oiler explained. "Janine and I are running out of time for making a decision, so I figured that I'd try and talk with the secondary alliance partners and not the leaders. At least they won't pressure me for a vote."_

"So where do you guys sit on voting?" Oiler asked.

Anita, whom had gotten a better sleep the previous night, rubbed her arm. "I think we're getting targeted. Charlotte wants us out." She admitted.

"She does. The main problem is that she's always switching targets." Krash said. "I honestly don't know who she's voting for now."

"Where was it last left at?"

"She said something about targeting Anita because of her nightmares."

Anita's eyes widened. "But…I…I can't help it!" She insisted.

"_W-Why is Charlotte targeting me now?! She should know that if I could stop having nightmares, I c-could!" Anita stated. "This s-settles it. W-we need to either take Charlotte out or w-weaken her power in the tribe."_

"We've got treemail." Janine announced as she came over.

"Sweet. What're we doing?" Krash asked as everyone gathered around.

"It's asking how good we are at math." Janine replied.

Krash's face fell almost instantly.

"_Uh…Yeah…Math. I'm not exactly the best counter around, but you probably know that by now." Krash admitted. "Then again, I think we're one person ahead of the others, so I think I'd be able to sit out as long as there's nothing physical involved."_

**(Opito Tribe; Day 19)**

"Morning." Nelson said as he left the shelter.

"Morning, mac." Roscoe greeted.

"Jack and Mason still verbally attacking each other?"

"Naturally."

"_My saving grace here is that with Jack and Mason focusing on each other, I may be able to slip under the radar." Nelson explained. "This is something I really need, especially since I don't have any real allies out here."_

"You're never giving me my space!" Mason shouted. "Is that why you don't respect me and what I've done?!"

"I've been trying to give you your space since we started!" Jack shouted back. "I kinda HAVE to since you snore like a train and have a very bad B.O. problem!"

"Hey! My hygiene is fine!"

As the two continued to argue (and the said arguments got less and less about the game), the rest of the tribe watched them, shaking their heads. Molly moaned and went to check on treemail.

"_I think my idea's going pretty well. Once Molly sees that Mason's not useful, she'll join us in voting him out." Jack pointed out. "We need her vote, but we don't want to risk going against Mason. This idea will help me with both problems."_

"_Jack's obviously trying to make me see Mason as useless. Hey, I agree with him, but I still need Mason's vote." Molly explained. "Once I know we've reached the jury, I'll gladly get rid of him, just so long as I do it without making him realize I had a hand in eliminating him."_

"Um…We've got treemail." Molly told Roscoe and Nelson.

"Hey, guys! We've got mail!" Roscoe called out to Jack and Mason, but the two continued to argue. Groaning, Roscoe picked up a coconut and hurled it at the two, striking Mason in the head.

"WHAT?!" Jack and Mason demanded as one.

"Treemail." Roscoe replied simply. The two arguers looked at each other before trudging over to listen.

"Thank you." Molly said to Roscoe as she read the letter. "It says 'How good are you at math'?"

"Wait. Math?" Nelson asked hopefully. "We can totally do this!"

"You WOULD assume that, wouldn't you?" Roscoe asked.

"_I consider myself one of the smartest people on the tribe, perhaps in the entire game. And this next challenge is about math." Nelson said. "If I can help score a victory, I'm safe for at least a few more days."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Eleda Tribe stood on their mat in a clearing, waiting for the challenge to start. The Opito mat was currently empty.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the Opito Tribe." SSBFreak said.

The Opito Tribe emerged from the jungle and the Eleda Tribe noticed a distinct lack of blue on their team.

"Ginny was voted out at the last Tribal Council." SSBFreak explained. The Eleda players looked indifferent as the Opito Tribe gathered on their mat.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge. Here, we will see how well you all do at managing numbers." SSBFreak explained as everyone saw a couple of large scales nearby with a large pile of bricks of various sizes behind them. "There are numerous sizes of bricks in that pile, and they each have a number on them corresponding to their weight. Your objective is to count up the bricks and put them on the scale so that you have at least 1,000 pounds of bricks loaded onto your scale. Once you think you have enough, let me know and the electronic counter on the scales will signify if you're right or not. The first team to collect and weigh 1,000 pounds of bricks at once will win Immunity and be safe from elimination tonight."

The two teams looked at each other uneasily. They weren't expecting a challenge like this.

"Eleda, you guys have one extra player. Who's sitting out?" SSBFreak asked.

"I-I will." Anita said.

"Okay. With Anita sitting out, we can begin the game. If you'll all get into position, we can start."

Everyone got into position. Nelson and Ruth were closest to the scales, as they were going to be doing the counting. Everyone else prepared to run as Anita stood off to the side with the host.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

"Get the bricks with high numbers first!" Ruth ordered as her team raced over to the brick pile.

"Get as many bricks as you can! I'll calculate them!" Nelson directed.

The two teams quickly arrived at the large pile of bricks. While the Eleda Tribe was trying to search for high numbers (except Krash; he just grabbed what he could), the Opito Tribe just grabbed as many bricks as they could carry.

As Roscoe raced back over to Nelson with an armload of bricks, Jack and Mason glared at each other.

"I bet I can carry twice as much as you!" Mason said.

"You're on, pansy!" Jack replied.

Roscoe quickly arrived at the scale. "I got three 15's and two 10's!" He said.

Nelson closed his eyes and concentrated. "That's 65!" He said. "Load them up!"

Molly arrived at Nelson's side as Roscoe loaded his bricks onto the scale. "I can only carry three. I got a ten and two fives." She explained.

"That's another 20, so that gives us 85." Nelson nodded.

Meanwhile, Janine approached Ruth with five bricks. "I've got five 25's." She said.

"Is that the highest number they have?" Ruth asked.

"I'm pretty sure."

"Well, that's 125 right there." Ruth said with a smirk. "We're off to a good start."

Krash came stampeding over with three bricks. "I've got some bricks with tens on them." He explained.

"That's thirty. We've got 155." Ruth nodded.

Meanwhile, Jack had rushed over to Nelson, although Mason was close behind. Nelson could see that Mason had a lot of bricks.

"Okay. I found two 25's, a 10 and a 15." Jack explained.

Nelson paused as he counted. "Okay. That's 75, which brings us to…160." He noted.

As Jack loaded the weights, Mason approached. "Look what I've got. Three 10's, a 25, two 15's and three 5's." He explained.

Nelson blinked. "Uh…Okay, that's…100. Now we got 260." He said with a smirk. "Load them up."

Meanwhile, Oiler approached with a few bricks, as the weight was starting to pull his arms down. "I…I got two 20's, a 25 and a 10." He explained.

"Okay. That's 75, so we have…240." Ruth explained back.

Charlotte was next as Janine and Krash were still digging through the pile. "I managed to five a couple more 25's and a 15." She pointed out.

"That's another 75. That…Should equal 315." Ruth explained.

"I hope you're calculating right." Charlotte said as she raced over to the scaled and loaded her bricks.

"I've got three 15's!" Molly announced as she raced over.

"That's 45, which brings us to 305." Nelson said with a smirk.

"Are you sure you're counting right?" Molly asked. "It's not taking you that long to come up with answers."

"I'm sure."

"I found a couple more 25's and a 10!" Roscoe announced.

"That's an extra 60. We should have 360 by now."

"Come on! They're catching up!" Anita called out.

Janine came running over to Ruth with another armload of bricks. "I think there're four 20's and three 15's." She announced.

"Great. That's 125." Ruth said with a smirk. "We should have 440. We're almost halfway there."

"Actually, we could be halfway with these." Krash said with a grin as he came over. "I've got three bricks with 15 on them and one with 20."

"That's 65. We've got 505 now."

Nelson easily calculated Molly's next run (Jack and Mason were still have a competition to see who could carry more) and the Opito Tribe now had 365. Jack came running over first, holding five bricks in his hands.

"Nelson, I've got five 20's!"

"Great! That's an even hundred!"

"That ain't nothing compared to what I've got!" Mason said proudly. "Three 20's and three 10's!"

Nelson blinked. "That's only 90, Mason." He said.

"…Aw, crap!" Mason said as he rushed over to the scale. "I'll beat you next time, Jack!"

Nelson shook his head and brought the total number to 555. "We're over halfway, guys! Keep moving!" He directed.

Ruth was furiously calculating numbers in her head, making sure that she wasn't making any mistakes. As of now, Oiler's current delivery had brought the total to an even 600, and Charlotte had just returned with another five 20's.

"We've got 700 now. Just 300 more." Ruth explained. "Keep the bricks coming! We're almost there!"

Krash came back over with another four bricks. "I got three 15's and one with a 10." He said.

"That makes it 755."

"I've got three more 20's as well as two 15's." Janine pointed out as she came over.

"And that makes it 860. We just need 140 more!"

Nelson calculated Roscoe's delivery to bring the total to 610. "We need 390, guys!" He explained.

"On it!" Mason said as he raced over to the pile and started gathering bricks.

Ruth shifted through the bricks Krash and Oiler had just brought over and came up with a total of 140. She cast the leftovers aside. "Load those onto the scale! This is it!" She directed.

Krash and Oiler quickly obeyed and loaded the bricks onto the scale. As soon as they were on, Ruth spoke up. "We're done!" She said.

Everything stopped for several seconds, the Opito Tribe looking over in desperation, hoping that a miscalculation had been made. After several agonizing seconds, a buzzer was heard.

The Eleda Tribe had miscalculated.

"W-What?! How could I have miscalculated?!" Ruth asked.

"We've got a chance, Mason! Bring over what you have!" Nelson ordered as the Eleda Tribe scrambled to count the values of the bricks on the scale.

Mason quickly picked up what he had collected and brought it over to Nelson. Nelson did a quick count and looked out to Jack, whom was still collecting bricks. "Jack, we only need 120!" He said.

"I've got it! I've got it!" Jack assured as he grabbed a 20 brick from the pile.

"What're we missing?!" Anita asked from the sidelines. "We can't be off by that much!"

As the Eleda Tribe continued to scramble with their numbers, Jack came racing over. He had six bricks in his hands and they were all 20's.

"That's it! Put them on the scale!" Nelson said as Jack rushed over to the scale and threw the bricks onto it. "We're done!"

The competition stopped again, this time the teams being reversed. Another several seconds passed before another buzzer went off, this one sounding different than the one Eleda had just heard.

"That's it! Opito collected 1,000 pounds!" SSBFreak announced. "The challenge is over! Opito wins Immunity!"

The Opito Tribe cheered as the Eleda Tribe looked defeated.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Opito. You're all safe tonight and none of you will be voted out." SSBFreak said as he turned to the losing team. "Eleda, you guys will be voting off one of your own tonight at Tribal Council. Once again, the teams will be evened out after this. I'll give you the rest of the day to decide the voting, so you can all head back to camp."

The two teams dispersed again, heading their separate ways. Several minds on the Eleda Tribe were thinking of who to vote for.

**(Eleda Tribe)**

"_We lost Immunity, and I know that Charlotte will target me because I made a miscalculation and cost us the win." Ruth said. "Well, if I'm going down, I'm not going down without a fight. Anita and I need to make sure Janine and Oiler see things our way, or else we're both dead in the water."_

"I think it's obvious that Ruth needs to be eliminated." Charlotte told Krash.

"N-Now you're back to Ruth?" Krash asked. "Just this morning you were targeting Anita!"

"Well, Ruth cost us the challenge." Charlotte replied. "I already explained that to Janine and Oiler and they agree with me. If she didn't count wrong, we would have won the challenge."

"_Why can't Charlotte make up her mind?! I…I don't even know who to vote for now!" Krash said, looking exasperated. "She's confusing me with all of this target-switching that I don't even know if she's going to switch targets once we go to Tribal Council!"_

Meanwhile, Ruth and Anita were talking to Janine and Oiler.

"I know you're probably angry with me for making the miscalculation, but we need to target Krash." Ruth explained.

"Why Krash?" Janine asked. "I mean, I really don't want to vote him off."

"I know, but with him around, Charlotte is a major strategic threat." Ruth reminded. "Letting her have power over us all wouldn't end well for any of us."

"_Charlotte's got a good head on her shoulders, but she can be a little…Commanding once she gets power." Anita admitted. "We know that Krash is stronger than she is, s-so if we get r-rid of him, it takes out a threat and weakens Charlotte at the same time. The only downside is that we all really like Krash."_

"She makes a good point." Oiler told Janine.

"I know, but I can't help but feel that we'll pay for it if we make Charlotte mad." Janine replied. "Thanks for the idea, Ruth. We'll think about it."

"You're going to have to think quickly." Anita supplied. "W-We're going to Tribal Council soon."

"_They made a valid point. We'd much rather go against Ruth and Anita at the merge than Charlotte and Krash." Janine said, arms folded. "Normally, being a swing vote would leave you in a comfortable position, but this time we feel that we really need to make the right decision or else it'll affect us negatively in the future."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The six remaining Eleda players walked into Tribal Council, once again carrying lit torches. Finding their spots, everyone sat down and waited for Tribal Council to proceed.

"Welcome to your fourth Tribal Council, Eleda Tribe. You guys have been here more than your opponents, so you're probably hoping this is the last you'll see of this place for a while. In a moment, you'll be voting out one of your own and bring the size of your tribe down even more." SSBFreak explained as he started asking questions. "Krash, the last time you guys were here, you voted out Vikki. What led to the decision to vote her out?"

"She was getting too comfortable as a swing vote. Even I know that by now." Krash replied. "She was trying to get by with joining whatever alliance she wanted and switching as she went."

"How far do you think she would have gotten if you didn't pick up on her plan?"

"Probably mid to late game at least." Krash replied.

"Ruth, you apparently made a miscalculation at the challenge." SSBFreak noted. "What happened?"

"I probably skipped a number or two while I was counting and I ended up ahead of myself." Ruth explained. "If I wasn't under pressure to finish before the other team, I probably could have done it on the first try."

"Will this make you a target tonight?"

"Probably."

"Charlotte, what's your strategy for tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"Ruth cost us the challenge with the miscalculation. I think it's time for her to go." Charlotte explained. "Not only is she physically weak, but she knows it as well."

"But I'm an intelligent player." Ruth supplied, narrowing her eyes.

"Then how come you made the miscalculation to begin with?" Charlotte countered.

"Like I said, I was under pressure. And you have to admit that no one else could have calculated as fast as me."

"Maybe not, but I know I would have at least gotten it right the first time."

"Okay. That's enough." SSBFreak said. "Oiler, you and Janine appear to be the swing votes. Where does your loyalty lay?"

"It doesn't lay anywhere tonight, I'm afraid. The only thing Janine and I are worried about is making the best decision that will help us in the long run." Oiler explained.

"So who's getting your vote?"

"I'm not stupid. I'm not going to say it now."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Janine, you're up."

Janine got up and left the hut, going over to the voting table. The cavewoman approached the table and wrote a name down. "It's all strategy." She said as she placed her ballot into the urn.

Ruth approached the table and wrote a name down, showing her ballot. "I don't like voting you off, but you're a bigger physical threat." She apologized, having voted for Krash.

Charlotte walked up to the table, arms behind her back. She wrote a name down and placed it into the jar. "You've gone on long enough." She said.

Oiler scratched his head as he approached the table. Taking the pen, the test dummy wrote a name down and placed it into the urn before leaving as quickly as he came.

Krash wrote a name onto his ballot and showed it to the camera. "Charlotte says you need to go, so I'm just going with it." He said, having voted for Ruth (the ballot was spelled 'Rooth').

Anita was the last to vote and she timidly wrote a name down onto her ballot. Taking a deep breath, she placed it into the urn. "I hope this works." She said.

Once all six people had voted, SSBFreak fetched the urn and returned a short while later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote, Krash." The Kremling looked nervous and bit his lip.

"Ruth." The elderly Raposa looked at Janine and Oiler.

"Ruth." Ruth started breathing hard, knowing it would be close.

"Krash. That's two for Krash and two for Ruth." Krash glanced at Ruth, wondering how the voting had gone.

"…Krash." Charlotte's eyes widened as Krash sighed. "Last vote and eighth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"Krash. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Krash sighed and stood up. "Well, it was fun." He shrugged as he grabbed his torch and brought it to the host, who was once again holding the snuffer.

"Krash, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Krash's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Thanks." Krash nodded as he left Tribal Council with a smile.

Once Krash was gone, SSBFreak looked at the remaining five Eleda players. "Krash is gone and that means that there is the same number of you guys as there are of your opponents." He said. "I'd say that you'd hope that your tribe does better in the next Immunity Challenge, but from this point on, things are going to be a little different."

"W-Wait. What?" Anita asked.

"Will the Opito Tribe please enter Tribal Council?" SSBFreak called out to someone outside of the hut.

The Eleda Tribe watched as the remaining five Opito players walked into Tribal Council. "What's going on?" Charlotte asked.

"Congratulations." SSBFreak said with a smirk. "You ten players have officially made the merge."

"_In a way, I'm kinda glad to be outta there. Now that I'm away from all that excessive strategizing, I feel like a load's been taken off my chest." Krash admitted, looking satisfied. "Even still, I loved the experience and I would totally do it all again just so long as I don't end up on a tribe so dedicated to being sneaky."_

**Voting History:**

**Krash – Anita, Janine, Oiler and Ruth**

**Ruth – Charlotte and Krash**

Author's Note: Believe me, I hated doing this. I loved writing for Krash way more than I thought I would, but there wasn't any room for him in the merge. As an interesting note, Krash was originally supposed to be eliminated where Ginny was and Ginny would have gone here, but I switched them at the last minute because I enjoyed writing for Krash more. I know he was a favourite for you guys, but it's just the way the story ended up playing out.


	9. Days 20 to 22

**(Tribal Council)**

After hearing the news that they had reached the merge, the remaining ten players let out a cheer, some a little more energetic than others. Even still, the overall look of the players was satisfied.

"That's right. From this point on, the teams are dissolved and it's every man, woman and inhuman being for themselves." SSBFreak explained. "Because of this, the Immunity Challenges will be replaced by Individual Immunity challenges, which will grant immunity to only one person."

"What about the Hidden Immunity Idol? Are there any at camp this time?" Nelson asked.

"Not this time. Instead, the winner of the Reward Challenges will be able to send someone to Exile Island, where they will spend a day and search for the Immunity Idol hidden there." SSBFreak explained. "It's only good up until the final four and can only be used once, so if you find it, make sure you use it when you need it the most." He looked around amongst the finalists. "If you'll all hand in your buffs, I'll give you your merged ones."

Everyone quickly threw their buffs onto a pile as SSBFreak handed out new buffs, these ones a bright gold. "You can only have one camp as a merged tribe, so I'll leave it up to you to decide which tribe you'll stay at for the remainder of the game." He explained.

Everyone looked at each other. "We've got a lot of beach." Janine supplied.

"So do we. We've also got a couple of small islands." Jack added.

The Eleda Tribe looked amongst themselves. "I think that sounds pretty neat." Oiler shrugged. "You guys wanna go there?"

The others nodded. "We'll go to the Opito Tribe." Charlotte explained.

"Very well. Opito will be the merged tribe, but I'd like you guys to come up with a new name by the time you see me for the next challenge." SSBFreak said. "That's all, so you can all head back to your new camp."

**(Opito Tribe)**

The ten finalists walked into their new camp and the Eleda players looked around, some in awe.

"Man. You guys got luckier for camps." Janine pointed out. "Your beach looks like it's even in better condition than ours."

Anita suddenly noticed several blue trees off to the side. "Uh…Why are some of the things here blue?" She asked.

"You don't wanna know." Roscoe said flatly.

"_Sweet! We made the merge! Now it's time for me to step up my game and kick it into high gear." Jack said with a smirk. "The one downside of having the merge camp and ours is that we've still got all of the blue-coated environment to put up with, thanks to Ginny. Hey, I think I could live with it another few weeks if it'll get me to the end."_

"Where's the best fishing spot?" Oiler asked, showing the tribe the fishing rod. "I can probably start catching stuff tomorrow."

"I can show you. We've been having trouble thus far with fishing." Roscoe supplied as he led Oiler off to a spot on the beach.

As the others looked around their new tribe, Charlotte stood back, in thought. She narrowed her eyes.

"_My ally was just voted out of the game, and that tells me that I could be next. I'm not sure why Janine and Oiler didn't vote with me back there, but I'll find out why soon enough." Charlotte assured. "This may put me at a disadvantage now, but maybe I can convince a few of the Opito players to vote out someone I want…"_

Everyone decided to go to bed. It was a little cramped with nine people again (Anita was sleeping by a tree again), but they managed to make it work and get to sleep.

**(Opito Tribe; Day 20)**

"_This is amazing for me. I made the merge, and this will act as a second wind for me making it further into the game." Nelson explained. "I can join forces with the Eleda Tribe and gang up on the people that have constantly been backstabbing me every time we went to Tribal Council, at least until I can find a way to outwit them once it gets down to it…"_

"You want to take out the others on your tribe?" Ruth asked, surprised.

"They've eliminated all of my allies and I know I'm next." Nelson replied. "I need a way to outlast them and I think teaming up with you guys will be the best way to do it."

"Is that why it's looked like they've been getting rid of all their strongest players first?" Ruth asked.

"Yes, and I'd sure like to know who's been spearheading the votes. I want to say that I think Molly is somehow responsible for all of this, but she's just too nice." Nelson sighed.

"_Nelson is indeed in quite a predicament. Maybe it could benefit us to align with him. Not only would it gain an ally, but we could take out the Opito Tribe from the inside out." Ruth explained. "Now the only question is who to go for first. Mason's the big threat, but Jack and Roscoe appear to be in a tightly-knit alliance…"_

Meanwhile, unknown to Ruth, Charlotte was over by Molly and Mason, talking similar strategy.

"They voted out my ally and put me at a disadvantage." Charlotte explained, folding her arms. "I want to make sure they know never to double-cross me, so I'm willing to vote out one of them."

"Who did you have in mind?" Molly asked. "The strongwoman?"

"Ruth, the older woman." Charlotte replied. "I know she's capable of more than she lets on and she's been responsible for a couple of votes thus far."

"I'll vote for her, but only if you vote for Jack first." Mason explained.

"Wait. What?" Charlotte asked. "Why him?"

"Jack used a few not-so-friendly words at our last Tribal Council and Mason's kinda been taking it seriously." Molly explained.

"He called me useless! ME! Useless!" Mason shouted. "I didn't wade my way through a giant Locust's insides by myself just to be called useless!"

"_I don't care who tells me what to do. There's no way I'm voting for anyone but Jack. My mind's set, and everyone's going to have to work around it." Mason insisted. "I know it may make me seem stubborn, but Jack crossed the line that night, and I want him to pay for it the first chance we get."_

"_Mason's getting a little obsessed with this whole rivalry thing he's got with Jack. I'd get rid of him, but I want to make sure we arrive at where the jury starts first." Molly explained with a frown. "Once we make the jury, I'll gladly get rid of Mason. I just need to keep him around until then, and now that we're at the merge I think it's going to be a lot harder to do that."_

As all of the talk was going on about strategy, Oiler was fishing at the spot Roscoe had pointed out to him the night before. Jack and Roscoe were watching him, as if observing him at work.

"So you've been catching fish at the other camp?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. It's been not bad. I guess we'll just have to see how much the fish are biting here." Oiler replied.

"Like I said, we haven't been having much luck, but we've been using makeshift fishing rods." Roscoe shrugged.

"_Jack and I had an idea to bring someone from Eleda onto our little alliance and vote them out secretly when we get their trust." Roscoe said with a smirk. "Looking at the other tribe, we figured Oiler was the most gullible, so we decided to get him alone and then approach him with an offer."_

"Oiler, I think it's clear that none of us are the biggest threats left in the game." Jack pointed out.

"No, I suppose not." Oiler shook his head. "I guess those are Mason and Janine."

"Exactly. We think we need to get rid of them first." Jack pointed out. "We'd be willing to get rid of Mason, but we need Janine to go as well."

"I'm aligned with Janine." Oiler replied.

"But if you want to win, then she'll have to get eliminated eventually." Roscoe pointed out. "We think that if we leave the threats alone for too long, they'll get the best of us and go on an Immunity run or something."

"_Jack and Roscoe are obviously trying to get my vote for something, but I know that Janine is a big threat." Oiler said. "However, I'm confident that she'll take me to the finals. We've gone through the game this far together."_

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed throughout the camp, getting the attention of everyone. Nine castaways quickly gathered around the source of the scream and found Anita, having just woken up, sobbing her eyes out again and holding onto herself.

"Oh, dear. She's had the nightmare again." Ruth sighed as she approached Anita.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait! SHE'S been what's making that loud noise?!" Jack asked. "Holy crap, she can scream!"

"What the heck does she dream about?!" Nelson asked.

"We still don't know." Janine replied. "She doesn't seem to want to relive it."

"…_Wow. Something seriously messed up must have happened to that kid to make her scream like that." Jack said. "Something tells me that we don't wanna know what the story is, but part of me still feels curious."_

_Anita was sitting on a stump, back facing the camera and still crying. She paused and looked over her shoulder. "L-L-Leave me alone…" She whimpered as she resumed her breakdown._

"If she's the one that's been screaming, then how did she make it this far?" Roscoe asked. "I mean, wouldn't booting her get her some professional help or something?"

Ruth glared at Roscoe. "I wouldn't be thinking things like that." She warned. "Anita just has a severe nightmare problem and there's nothing unusual about that."

"But if she's always having them…" Roscoe added. Ruth cast another glare at him.

"_How are people so inconsiderate?! Anita can't help it if she's been having nightmares! Something clearly happened that made her this way and she just doesn't want to tell us!" Ruth snapped. "I know it'll be hard, but I intend on taking Anita as far as I can into the game. Someone needs to help that girl open up."_

"_I just don't understand it. With nightmares like that, I'd be picturing that kid as a liability. Even still, it probably didn't put-off her team THAT much if they were still able to win as many challenges as they did." Roscoe scratched his head. "Well, now that we're in the merge phase, I think it's safe to keep her around because she's a non-threat."_

Later on, Oiler's fishing had helped a great deal in catching something to eat. Anita was still shivering, but she had at least stopped crying. As the ten finalists were sitting around the fire pit with their meal, people suddenly noticed Nelson writing in the sand with a stick.

"What're you doing?" Janine asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"It's probably some more of that sand-art we always see him do." Mason shrugged. "I still don't get why he does it at all."

"I'm writing out words for potential tribe names." Nelson replied. "I'm just sounding out syllables and writing them as I do to put them into a word."

"That's actually a pretty good idea." Charlotte lifted an eyebrow. "What do you have, comrade?"

A few of the other players observed Nelson's writings and looked them over.

"Hmm…Some of these words could work, but I'm not sure if anything really clicks as a tribe name." Janine noted.

Jack looked at the gathered words. "What if we took the first half of this word, combined it with the last half of that one…" He said. "…And maybe threw a third word in the middle? Can I see the stick, Nelson?"

"Uh, sure."

Jack wrote out the new word in the sand, taking a combination of three potential words Nelson had previously written down.

"…Yoma Nada?" Molly asked. "What kind of word is that?"

"This is Survivor. The words aren't supposed to spell anything as long as it rolls off the tongue." Jack shrugged with a smirk.

"I kinda like it." Janine said. "I think it could work. Any objections?" No one made a noise, although a couple of people didn't look like they cared either way. "Okay. Yoma Nada it is. Nice idea, Jack."

"_I finally got to do something that Marty didn't in the game, and that's come up with a name for the tribe." Jack said with a smirk. "Man. It really makes you feel good when you know that a word you chose is going to be the tribe's name for the rest of the game."_

Eventually, night arrived. The newly-christened Yoma Nada Tribe went to bed, knowing that there would be a challenge the following day.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 21)**

"So Jack and Roscoe are going to target me and Mason, are they?" Janine asked.

"That's what they told me. They wanna take out the threats first and they set their sights on the two of you." Oiler replied.

"You know what? This is actually good. If they focus on us, we can rally the others to vote out someone else." Janine explained.

"Who should we go after first?" Oiler asked.

"I think we should eliminate someone from our tribe first since we apparently have all of the potential threats. I'm still thinking we should get rid of Anita."

"I dunno about that…"

"_Normally, when someone targets you, you tend to worry for yourself. However, in this case, I can turn this into an opportunity." Janine assured. "Jack and Roscoe are perfectly willing to get rid of Mason, so we can get rid of someone we think will distract the rest of us, in this case Anita due to her nightmares, and then collaborate with Jack and Roscoe to get rid of Mason afterwards."_

"_We're at the merge now. This means we need to start focusing on the threats. Janine still wants to vote out Anita, but I think Charlotte's the better target." Oiler pointed out. "I think she's the biggest threat here because she's so sneaky and she's also probably pretty mad at us for eliminating her ally."_

"Hey! We've got treemail!" Nelson said as he came over.

"Sweet. Our first challenge as a merged tribe." Jack noted. "What's it say?"

"It just says 'How well can you target people other than yourself'?" Nelson read.

"Not very descriptive, but we've come to expect that." Janine scratched her head.

"_Okay. Time for the first challenge. If I don't win, I hope I at least get sent to Exile Island. That'll give me a heads-up for finding that Hidden Immunity Idol first." Roscoe said. "Time for me to see if I'm as good fighting for myself as I am on a team."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Yoma Nada Tribe emerged from the jungle and into a clearing. Walking over to the lone, golden mat on the ground, the finalists awaited the start of the challenge.

"Welcome to your first Reward Challenge, everyone. Before I start, I have to ask if you've all come up with a name for the tribe." SSBFreak said.

"We decided on Yoma Nada." Jack replied. "It took a bit, but that's what we came up with."

"Good enough for me. Yoma Nada, your first Reward Challenge will test your accuracy in an elimination-style game." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw a large board with thirty glass squares littering it. On each square was a picture of one of the finalists, and everyone had three, although there were numerous blank spots as well. "When I give the signal, you'll all throw stones at the board and try to hit the pictures of your competitors. If you lose all three of your pictures, you're out of the game and the person remaining with at least one picture will win Reward. Today's Reward will be a trip to a resort and spa on the island for the day, complete with dinner."

Everyone looked at each other intently, each wanting the reward provided.

"If you'll all line up at the throwing range, we can begin."

Everyone stood behind a short wall, which stood several yards away from the wall. The ten finalists saw that they had easy access to every picture on the board. They saw that they were each given a small pail of rocks to throw. Everyone quickly grabbed a rock and prepared to throw.

"Okay. For Reward, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

Everyone instantly threw their first rocks. Everyone managed to hit a target, although some had barely managed to hit the glass and others had hit blank spots.

"Okay. Anita, Roscoe, Molly and Janine each got one hit against them." SSBFreak announced. "Oiler, Ruth, Nelson, Mason, Jack and Charlotte are yet to be hit."

The finalists took aim again and threw. Once again, everyone managed a hit, but a number of people had hit blank spots again.

"Mason just lost two pictures…And I think one of those hits was from himself." SSBFreak said, looking at Mason flatly.

"My aim was off!" Mason insisted.

"Well, in either case, Janine also lost her last two pictures, so she's out. Jack, Charlotte and Oiler just lost their first pictures, while Molly and Anita lost their second." SSBFreak continued. "Nelson and Ruth still haven't been hit yet."

Janine sighed as she left the field. "You guys ganged up on me there." She said.

Everyone seemed to ignore Janine as they prepared to throw their third rocks. Everyone threw, making multiple hits. Some more blank spots were hit, and a couple of rocks soared through the empty spaces where glass used to be.

"Roscoe and Oiler take their second hit, while Nelson takes his first. Anita just lost her last picture and is out." SSBFreak announced. "As of now, Ruth is the only one untouched."

Anita moaned. "That was unfair." She complained as she left the field.

Everyone prepared to throw their fourth rock and hurled them out when given the signal. When the rocks landed, they saw that a couple more people had been eliminated, while the others had taken hits.

"Ruth just lost two pictures, and Charlotte lost her second." SSBFreak said. "Molly and Mason are out."

"Nice throwing, Mason." Jack said with a smirk.

"I was aiming for you, you know." Mason grumbled as he left the field. Molly followed him, shaking her head in hopelessness.

The six remaining players took aim and threw another round of rocks. A couple more blank spots were hit, but some more pictures were struck.

"Jack and Nelson get their second hit while Roscoe is out." SSBFreak said.

"Thanks." Roscoe muttered as he went over to stand with the others.

"Anytime." Ruth replied with a smirk.

"Okay. Everyone remaining has one picture left." SSBFreak warned. "It's anyone's game at this point."

The five remaining players took aim again and threw more rocks. The majority of the rocks either hit blank spots or went through an already-hit picture. In fact, only one picture was hit.

"With one hit, Ruth is the only one out." SSBFreak announced.

"I take it that was to pay me back for eliminating Roscoe?" Ruth asked.

"Sure. Why not?" Jack shrugged.

"The only ones left in the game are Jack, Nelson, Charlotte and Oiler." SSBFreak said.

The four remaining players took aim and threw again. Oiler hit a blank space, Nelson missed altogether, but Charlotte and Jack hit two of the remaining four pictures.

"Charlotte and Oiler are out." SSBFreak announced. "Jack and Nelson are the only ones left."

"So close, and yet so far." Charlotte muttered as she left the field. Oiler followed, rotating his arm (very literally).

Nelson tossed a rock to himself as Jack took aim. The two hurled their rocks again. One rock made contact with a picture while the other one soared harmlessly through a broken picture beside the intended target.

"Jack just lost his last picture, so that means that the challenge is over!" SSBFreak said. "Nelson wins Reward!"

"Really?! Sweet!" Nelson cheered. The others looked envious of the lanky nerd.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning the first individual Reward Challenge, Nelson. For winning, you will be going to a resort and spa for the day and return for the challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak explained. "However, I know that things will be lonely by yourself, so I'd like you to choose two people to accompany you on your trip."

"Uh…Anita and Ruth." Nelson said.

The teenage girl and elderly Raposa looked at each other with confused expressions before shrugging and walking over to join Nelson.

"And you can also choose to send one of the others to Exile Island until tomorrow." SSBFreak continued.

"Roscoe." Nelson replied. Roscoe couldn't help but smirk.

"Okay. Nelson, Anita and Ruth will be going on their reward while Roscoe will be going to Exile Island. They will meet up with all of you tomorrow for the Immunity Challenge." SSBFreak explained. "The rest of you can now head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_Nelson won Reward. Not that I really care about that because the Immunity Challenges are all I care about." Molly shrugged before looking serious. "What bothers me is that he took two people from the OPPOSITE team on his little trip. Now, that tells me that he's planning something, and that I should target him. I can't take any more chances of someone finding out about me."_

"Mason, I know that you want Jack gone, but I think we need to target Nelson next." Molly said.

"No. I'm taking out Jack as soon as I can. Nelson can wait." Mason explained.

"Mason, I'm serious. Nelson took two opposing players with him on his trip." Molly reminded. "He's planning something!"

"But Nelson knows to respect people." Mason said. "My mind's set, Molly."

"_People probably think Molly has my vote because I'm always trying to protect her from the snakes on the tribe. That's not true." Mason reminded. "Sure, I've voted out the others because Molly felt threatened by them, but this time I'm voting to satisfy my honor. It's something I haven't needed to do in years, but it has to be done."_

"M-Mason, why can't you?" Molly attempted a convincing half-plead.

"Molly, not this time. We'll get to Nelson after I get rid of Jack." Mason said. "This is something I have to do."

Molly sighed in annoyance.

Meanwhile, Jack was in the process of building a fire while Oiler was watching. The test dummy looked in Mason's direction and saw that the bearded man was glaring Jack down.

"Uh…Mason's kinda giving you a death stare, Jack." Oiler said.

"So he's actually keeping his mouth shut and not screaming death threats at me." Jack couldn't help but chuckle. "He's starting to tire himself out."

"What exactly is his beef with you?"

"Ah, I called him out at our last Tribal Council and he hasn't forgotten it." Jack shrugged nonchalantly.

"_I'm not sure if that was really a good idea on Jack's part. I mean, he got one of the strongest players left mad at him." Oiler said, scratching his head. "If I were in his shoes, I'd be scared stiff because I know Mason would be fully-capable of beating me in a fight."_

"_Oiler both underestimates me and overestimates Mason. That guy is all talk and no walk. He looks strong, but I know I could totally beat him in a fight." Jack assured. "Hey, if he's planning on getting his revenge on me for whatever, I say bring it on. I'd really like to see him TRY and get me eliminated."_

**(Exile Island)**

Roscoe looked around the multiple islands that made up Exile Island. He was provided with an average shelter for the nights, but that was it.

"So this is Exile Island." Roscoe pondered. "I wonder if I can find that idol."

"_Coming to Exile Island first is great. This gives me an advantage for finding the idol, and even if I don't, I can come back again and have a better chance at finding it." Roscoe admitted. "I'm glad Nelson chose to send me, because it gives me a chance to change up the game. I just need to find the idol."_

Roscoe examined the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol he had been given and frowned. "This is a real vague clue. How am I supposed to make heads or tails of this mess?" He asked himself. "Well, I guess I'd better start looking."

Roscoe wandered around where he thought the clue was leading him and started searching. He looked up and around the trees and dug as much as he felt he could, but in the end, still couldn't find any idol.

By the end of his search, Roscoe was sitting down by the shelter, looking deep in thought. "So what do I do now?" He asked. "Do I make a fake idol or not?"

"_Okay. So I couldn't find the idol. That stupid clue wasn't giving me any help anyway. What I thought of next was the possibility of creating a fake idol to keep people from searching for the real thing in the future." Roscoe said. "However, I know that me returning with an idol on the first visit will be suspicious."_

Roscoe continued to ponder his plan before shaking his head. "No. People will know it'd be fake if I return to the camp with an idol after only one day out here." He said. "I just need to hope I get brought back out here next time."

With that, Roscoe laid back underneath the shelter and relaxed. "Well, now I've got nothing to do until I go back." He said. "I'd better enjoy this while I can."

"_I decided against making a fake idol because I knew it'd paint a target on my back. I want to help my game; not hurt it." Roscoe pointed out. "If making a phony idol will make people target me, then I don't want one."_

**(Resort)**

Anita was having a drink and relaxing in a chair, looking devoid of any fears for a change. As she was, Nelson and Ruth were sitting in a hot tub, also looking relaxed.

"_I-I really wasn't expecting Nelson to choose Ruth and I to go on this reward trip with him. I w-was a real nice surprise." Anita said with a smile. "Seeing him do this for us was confusing at first, but I-I'm definitely not complaining now that we're here."_

"Man. This is the life, isn't it?" Nelson asked as he leaned back.

Ruth paused in thought. "Nelson, why did you choose to bring Anita and I along?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"We're on different tribes. Why'd you choose us?"

"Well, to be frank, I don't like anyone else on my tribe." Nelson shrugged. "I wanted to give the reward to someone I liked and you two I felt were the most-deserving of it."

"Well, we appreciate it, Nelson." Anita said from the chair. "T-This is nice."

"_I know that Nelson meant well and all, but I fear that him bringing Anita and I may have made all three of us targets." Ruth explained. "I mean, we were on different tribes and we hardly even knew each other until a couple of days ago. I think it'd be suspicious for the others to see that happen."_

"So what now?" Anita asked.

"I think that when we go to Tribal Council, we vote for different people, at least for once." Ruth suggested. "We don't want people thinking that we formed an alliance."

"I get your idea, and I think it could work, but only if none of us are targeted tomorrow." Nelson pointed out. "As of now, I think I'm fine…"

"Charlotte seems intent on eliminating me." Ruth replied.

"And Janine has apparently been trying to get me out for a bit." Anita added.

"So who should we target then?" Nelson asked.

"How about this…" Ruth suggested.

"_I'm glad I decided to confide in Ruth. She's a lot sneakier than she lets on. I think she could totally outwit Charlotte if given the chance." Nelson pointed out. "In all honesty, I'd rather have one strategic player on my side than worry about going against them all at once."_

Night eventually arrived for everyone, regardless of where they were. Everyone went to bed in anticipation for the following day's challenge.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 22)**

"_Since Mason apparently isn't on board with me voting out Nelson, I'll have to look elsewhere to make sure he goes." Molly explained. "Charlotte was talking to us yesterday, so maybe I can get her vote. If I want to keep my identity a secret, Nelson has to go, and I intend to make sure that happens."_

"Charlotte, can I ask you a favour?" Molly asked.

"It depends what it is." Charlotte replied.

"I think we need to target Nelson first." Molly explained. "He's smart, and he ended up taking two people from your tribe instead of people from ours."

"Well, from what I see, you all eliminated every ally he had." Charlotte folded her arms. "If you ask me, he doesn't like any of you anymore."

"That's why I think he should go next. He's liable to do something to get the better of everyone here."

"Sorry, but I consider Ruth a bigger strategic threat than Nelson at the moment." Charlotte replied. "After Ruth goes, I'll vote for Nelson, but she's definitely a bigger threat."

"_I thought Molly was too nice to come up with theories and plans like that. Then again, maybe she's just being paranoid." Charlotte shrugged. "I meant what I said, though. I think Ruth should go first. Without Ruth, Anita won't have anywhere to go and will become a literal non-threat, making her easy to pick off at any point in the future."_

"_Charlotte's going to regret her decision. If she won't vote for me and I get exposed, I will make sure she pays for it first." Molly assured darkly. "My entire game is riding on whether or not I get found out, and Nelson is the most-capable of such a feat."_

"We've got some treemail." Janine said as she came walking over with a letter.

"Time for the Immunity Challenge." Jack said with a smirk. "What're we up against?"

"All it says is 'How well can you stay balanced'?" Janine read.

"For once, I think I know what the challenge is going to be." Charlotte said.

"_Okay. This is the first individual Immunity Challenge, so I need to make sure I do this right. If I lose here, I'm pretty sure I'll be a target to at least one person." Jack noted. "I'm not going to let this stop me. Everyone needs the win, but I'm going to make sure I'm the one to pull off the win in the end."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The six tribe members emerged from the jungle and onto the beach. They walked over to the tribe mat and stood on it.

"Let's bring in Nelson, Ruth and Anita, whom have just returned from their reward, and Roscoe, whom is back from Exile Island." SSBFreak said.

The six players watched as the reward winners came walking onto the scene from the right as Roscoe approached from the left. Jack gave him a curious glance, to which Roscoe simply shook his head.

"This will be your first individual Immunity Challenge. Here, we will be testing your endurance to see which of you can outlast everyone else." SSBFreak explained. The ten players saw ten posts out in the middle of the water, near the dock. "Those posts out there are barely big enough for one person to stand on, making movement almost impossible without falling off. The goal is simple: Stay on your platform after everyone else falls into the water. The person that outlasts all of the others will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council." He looked amongst the players for a second. "If you'll all go out into the water and get onto the posts, we'll start the challenge."

**(Later…)**

The ten players stood high (or as high as they could, in the case of Molly and Ruth) on their posts, trying to stay balanced as the challenge started. The clock started ticking and no one was showing any real signs of fatigue. This continued for several minutes.

"We have been going for fifteen minutes and no one's dropped." SSBFreak noted. "Jack, how are you holding up?"

"I could stay up here all day if I have to." Jack said with a smirk.

"That may be the case if the others are determined."

"Don't remind me." Jack muttered.

"Janine, you look pretty balanced up there. You think you can win?" SSBFreak asked.

"We just started. Everyone's still feeling fresh." Janine shook her head. "It's going to be hard, but I'm going to stay up here as long as I can."

"How long can you last?"

"Hopefully longer than the others. I don't want to be up here all day."

"I don't think anyone wants to be up here all day." Nelson pointed out.

"Touche."

"I'll check back in with you guys in another couple of minutes."

**(Later…)**

The time continued to tick and no one was making a move, although a couple of people looked like they were faltering a little.

"You've all been up there for half an hour and I can tell that fatigue is already starting to set in." SSBFreak noted. "Oiler, how are your limbs?"

"My limbs don't fall off from fatigue. Only if I get hit hard." Oiler replied. "In other words, I'm in no danger of my legs collapsing from underneath me."

"Figuratively AND literally." Janine added with a smirk.

"Ruth, you're the oldest person left in the game. You think you're at a disadvantage in a challenge like this?"

"I may be old, but I've got just as much determination as anyone else." Ruth admitted. "I won't deny that my body isn't in the best shape, but that doesn't mean I'm completely useless in challenges."

"Molly, you and Ruth are the smallest people here. Do you think that will affect your performance in this challenge?"

"Hey, the bigger they are, the harder they fall." Molly shrugged. "In my opinion, Ruth and I have the best chances here."

"Well, to speed things along, I have an offer for you all." SSBFreak said as he directed everyone's attention towards three plates of food. "If three people drop out now, I'll give them each a big plate of pasta."

Anita sighed. "I'm real hungry." She said as she jumped into the water.

"It would definitely be a nice change of pace from what we've been eating so far." Nelson added as he followed Anita off his post.

"Save me some, will you?!" Roscoe called out as he leapt into the water.

"Anita, Nelson and Roscoe are out. That means that there are seven of you left." SSBFreak said as the three losers swam to the dock to collect their prize. "I'll check back in with you later with a new offer to see if there are any other takers."

**(Later…)**

Another good while later and fatigue was setting in for everyone. A couple of people looked ready to drop at any minute, but they still stood nonetheless.

"You've been going at this for a total of an hour now. I can see you're all starting to get tired, but there are still seven of you left." SSBFreak said with a smirk. "Mason, what's your motivation?"

"Outlast Jack." Mason replied.

"When will you put that behind you, man?!" Jack asked from behind Mason. "Seriously, this has been going on for a week now!"

"You crossed the line back then, and now my goal is simply to do better than you to make sure that I prove you wrong." Mason replied simply.

"Whatever." Jack rolled his eyes.

"Charlotte, you've been pretty quiet lately." SSBFreak noted. "You haven't said a word since the challenge started."

"I was trained to keep full concentration on anything." Charlotte replied. "If I took the time to talk normally, then I'd probably lose my balance by now."

"How well do you think you'll do?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to return to my concentrating." Charlotte replied, blocking the host out.

SSBFreak lifted an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Okay. I have another offer for two of you." He said. "If two people drop right now, they'll each receive a large plate of Chinese food in a wide variety of dishes."

Janine bit her lip, then jumped. "I probably wouldn't have won anyway."

Ruth pondered the possibilities of elimination for herself for a few seconds. "I'm probably not getting enough votes." She said as she jumped into the water.

"Janine and Ruth are out. There are now five of you left." SSBFreak said as the cavewoman and Raposa swam to the dock to join the others. "I'll come back to the rest of you later with another offer."

**(Later…)**

The remaining five players stood their ground, but they were all looking pretty tired and desperate to move. Even still, they all knew that immunity was on the line, and that kept them in the game.

"The challenge has been going for an hour and a half, and I can tell you all just want it to end right now." SSBFreak said. "Oiler, you're still in the running. How do you think your chances are?"

"Better. Now I've got a one-in-five shot at winning instead of a one-in-ten." Oiler said. "I don't see it as lasting the longest. I see it as lasting longer than four other people."

"Jack, now that you know about Mason's little strategy, are you playing according to that?"

"Well, normally I'd put myself higher than such childish things, but for some reason, I feel compelled to make sure I do better than Mason just to spite him." Jack said with a smirk.

"You're doing it again!" Mason shouted.

"How can I pass it up? It's too much fun."

"Charlotte, are you really just blocking everything out and trying to ignore everything but the challenge?"

Charlotte remained silent, clenching her fists and closing her eyes.

"Charlotte?" SSBFreak asked again.

"I am too concentrated to care about questions." Charlotte replied sharply.

"Well, we'll see if you're so concentrated when I make this next offer." SSBFreak said. "If two people drop now, they'll each get a large pizza, made for them with whatever toppings they want."

Mason's eye twitched a couple of times as he weighed the options. Swallowing his pride, Mason leapt into the water.

"What was that about your goal, Mason?" Jack taunted.

"Shut up!"

Molly paused, her eyes narrowed. "I'm not a target. Not yet, at least." She muttered to herself as she leapt into the water after Mason.

"Mason and Molly are out. This brings the number of players to three." SSBFreak said. "Hold on as best as you can. I've got one more offer coming up if you stay up there long enough."

**(Later…)**

Charlotte, Jack and Oiler remained focused and stood on their posts, not wanting to let Immunity slip from their fingers this close to the end of the challenge. When SSBFreak saw that the remaining players weren't going anywhere, he decided to speak again.

"Okay, seriously. You three have been up there for two hours. Someone has to be getting tired by now." SSBFreak noted. "Oiler, your strategy has gotten you to the final three. Think you can do it?"

"Victory's within grasp. I can definitely obtain it." Oiler responded. "I just need to outlast two more people."

"Jack, Mason's out and you beat his little goal of lasting longer than you." SSBFreak said. "What are your plans now?"

"Now that I proved myself capable of beating Mason, all I gotta do is win the challenge." Jack shrugged. "I can totally do this."

"You're not getting fatigued?"

"Oh, I am. But I also know that everyone else up here with me is just as tired as me."

"Charlotte, are you still going to ignore me?"

"Until you make an offer I'm willing to take and I know I'm not in danger, then yes." Charlotte nodded. "I intend on winning if I know I'm a target."

"Well, I have one last offer." SSBFreak said. "If two of the three of you jump now, you'll get a large chocolate cake to split between the two of you."

Charlotte paused, thought for a few seconds, then sighed. "You know how to make a convincing argument." She admitted as she jumped into the water.

This left Jack and Oiler on the posts. Oiler looked at Jack and the shades-wearing koopa gave him a salute.

"You did good. I'll take second this time." Jack said as he leapt into the water in a cannonball.

"And that's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Oiler wins Immunity!"

Oiler gave a cheer and shot his arms into the air. However, in doing so, he threw off his balance and he fell off his post backwards.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Oiler." SSBFreak said as he placed a jeweled headdress on Oiler's head. "You have a one-in-nine shot of winning the game."

"Sweet. This is a good thing." Oiler said as he felt the headdress.

SSBFreak turned to the others. "However, one of the rest of you will be voted off at tonight's Tribal Council. I know it'll be painful after just making the merge, but it has to be done." He said. "I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decisions, but for now, you can head back to camp."

Everyone turned and left the beach, going back to camp. They all had plans for voting, but now they needed to focus on getting other people to vote with them.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_I won Immunity, and I'm safe. This is great, because it makes me feel less nervous about tonight's council." Oiler admitted. "However, Janine seems intent on voting out Anita, but I still say Charlotte should go first because she's a bigger threat. I just don't see the point in voting off a weak player now, because wouldn't it be easier to vote her out later?"_

"Did you find the idol at Exile Island?" Jack asked Roscoe.

"No. I couldn't make heads or tails of the clue I was given." Roscoe shrugged.

"You're just saying that, aren't you?" Jack asked with a sly smirk.

Roscoe blinked. "Uh…No, I mean it. I didn't find the idol."

"Oh."

"_I knew it would be suspicious if I returned with a fake idol on my first day out there. That's why I didn't make one." Roscoe pointed out. "Hopefully, I'll get sent back out there at our next Reward Challenge and I'll be able to find the real thing."_

"So how's the vote going?" Roscoe asked.

"Neither of the two biggest threats won Immunity." Jack replied. "That means it's a big opportunity to vote them out. How about I vote for one and you vote for the other. Either way, we'd lose a threat."

"I like it, because we don't know which of the two they'll target first." Roscoe smirked.

Meanwhile, Molly was still trying to get Mason's support, and still not having much luck.

"Mason, you need to believe me. Voting for Nelson is the best choice. We can take Jack out next time." Molly insisted.

"Jack may win next time. This is the perfect opportunity." Mason said with a smirk. "Sorry, but this is something I need to do."

_Molly screamed in frustration. "Why isn't that idiot seeing the big picture past that stupid rivalry he has with Jack that I'm sure Jack doesn't even CONSIDER a rivalry?!" She demanded. "Nelson's a threat because he can expose my secret! I need to take him out while he's still in the dark!"_

As everyone was trying to get votes from the others, Anita and Ruth sat aside, looking around.

"So who should we go for?" Anita asked. "M-Mason doesn't have Immunity, so maybe we can take him out. And I'm s-sure Molly is capable of getting a few jury votes because of her nice attitude."

"Or we can separate a strong alliance." Ruth added. "I'm not sure which one will be a better choice."

"_Ruth and I are t-torn. We can either v-vote out a physical threat, a jury threat or split an alliance." Anita scratched her head. "T-The options are all there, b-but we need to decide which ones w-will be better f-for us to survive."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The ten remaining players entered Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding their places, everyone sat down and awaited Tribal Council to commence.

"Welcome to your first Tribal Council as a merged tribe, Yoma Nada. In a moment, you'll be voting someone on your tribe out of the game, taking away their chances at the million dollars." SSBFreak said as he started asking questions. "Charlotte, how was the merge from the Eleda Tribe to the Opito Tribe?"

"Not bad. They definitely had the better camp, aside from the fact that some of the surroundings were painted blue." Charlotte replied.

"You can thank Ginny for that. I'm glad we got rid of her when we did." Jack said.

"But that being said, I think the Opito Tribe is just as split as we are." Charlotte continued. "There appears to be some major friction that even I don't fully understand."

"Mason, care to elaborate on this said friction?"

"Jack called me worthless when we voted out Ginny." Mason grunted. "I'm not one to take insults like that very lightly, so I want to make sure I prove that I'm not worthless in these challenges and throw it in Jack's face."

"Because you've done SUCH a good job at it thus far." Jack chuckled.

"Can you please stuff that oversized ego of yours for a minute?!"

"Hey, you're the one that's so obsessed with this whole mission that I'm not really that interested in." Jack shrugged.

"If you guys will let me continue." SSBFreak narrowed his eyes, getting the argument to stop. "Roscoe, how was Exile Island?"

"Boring. There was nothing to do and I couldn't find the Hidden Immunity Idol." Roscoe folded his arms.

"Not even with the clue you were given?"

"You know for a fact that the idol wouldn't have been found on the first day out." Roscoe accused. "That clue was just too vauge."

"Oiler, you won Immunity. Do you think you needed it?" SSBFreak asked.

"I probably didn't need it as much as a few of the others but I'll say that it makes me a little less nervous about the outcome." Oiler admitted. "I was afraid I'd be a target without this, but at least now I know I'm safe."

"You still think you were a target when the stronger players aren't safe?"

"Anything's possible in Survivor." Oiler replied with a shrug.

"Ruth, how's the voting going to go?"

"In all honesty, I don't know how to answer that question. There are a few targets, but I know that none of us are safe." Ruth replied, looking thoughtful. "The first Tribal Council after the merge is always the most-agonizing."

"Do you think you could get voted out?"

"I don't see it, but like Oiler said, anything's possible in Survivor."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. Before we commence, I have to ask." SSBFreak said. "Oiler, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"

"I think so."

"With that, Oiler is safe and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Nelson, you're up."

Nelson got up and left the hut, going over to the voting table. "Someone had to spearhead my allies' eliminations." He muttered as he voted.

Ruth approached the table. Pausing to think for a second, Ruth scribbled a name down and placed her ballot into the urn.

Mason wrote a name down furiously and showed it to the camera. "You brought this on yourself, douche." He said, having voted for Jack.

Janine looked in thought as she walked up to the table. Finally making a decision, the cavewoman wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Jack gave a smirk as he wrote a name down and showed his ballot. "You and Janine are targets. I'm making sure I'll be the end of you." He said, having voted for Mason.

Oiler shook his head as he approached the table. Taking the time to stabilize the headdress he was wearing, the test dummy wrote a name down and voted.

Molly growled and wrote a name down. "I want to make sure my secret stays hidden. This is why you need to go." She warned, having voted for Nelson.

Anita nervously approached the table. "I hope we're making the right decision." She said as she wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Roscoe gave a smirk as he wrote a name down. "Either way, we're losing a threat." He told the camera as he shoved his ballot into the urn.

Charlotte, the last to vote, approached the table with confidence. Writing a name down, she gave the camera a smirk as she finalized her vote by placing it into the jar.

After everyone had voted, SSBFreak left and returned with the urn moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "If anyone has the Hidden Immunity Idol, now's the time to play it." No one made a move. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote, Mason." Mason shot Jack a glare.

"Jack." Jack gave Mason a smirk in return.

"Janine. That's one vote for Mason, Jack and Janine." Janine nervously bit her lip.

"Ruth." Ruth cast Charlotte a sideways glance.

"…Charlotte." The German woman lifted an eyebrow in surprise.

"Roscoe." This caught both Jack and Roscoe by surprise. The alliance members looked at each other.

"Nelson." Nelson tilted his head in confusion.

"Molly." Molly's eyes widened in horror.

"Anita." This took both Anita and Ruth off guard. They both looked extremely nervous now.

"Here's how we stand. Everyone except Oiler currently has a vote, and he has Immunity. There is only one ballot left, and that will determine who goes." SSBFreak said. Everyone looked extremely nervous now, seeing at how close the voting had come. "Final vote, first member of the jury and ninth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they waited in agony to see how the vote had gone.

"…Roscoe. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Roscoe stared in shock, slack-jawed at the outcome. "How…How did that just happen?" He asked. Regardless, he grabbed his torch as he brought it to the host, still in shock.

"Roscoe, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Roscoe's flame. "It's time for you to go."

Roscoe left Tribal Council without a word, but still extremely confused, as proven by the fact that his eyes were still wide and he was scratching his head.

After Roscoe was gone, SSBFreak turned to the rest of the tribe, not looking amused. "There were ten of you here, and Roscoe was just eliminated with TWO votes." He said flatly. "…WOW. If there's anything we've all learned from this, it's that you all seriously need to step up your game, considering that apparently no one is safe. I suggest that you all think about what just happened to prepare yourself for the next Tribal Council. For now, you can all head back to camp."

Everyone, still in shock at how the vote had gone, grabbed their torches and left Tribal Council. No one was really thinking anything else other than the fact that they all had realized that no one was safe. The only thing the majority of the people were thinking was that they needed to kick things into high gear if they wanted to win…

"…_Man. I can't believe that just happened. The vote was so split that I get eliminated with TWO votes?! That just blows my mind." Roscoe asked as he slapped himself in the forehead. "It sucks that my entire plan just went down the drain, but now I need to work on a jury speech I wasn't even planning on giving in the first place."_

**Voting History:**

**Roscoe – Anita and Ruth**

**Anita – Janine**

**Charlotte – Oiler**

**Jack – Mason**

**Janine – Roscoe**

**Mason – Jack**

**Molly – Nelson**

**Nelson – Molly**

**Ruth – Charlotte**

Author's Note: And so Roscoe leaves as the first post-merge boot and the first jury member. I enjoyed writing for him due to his and Jack's little alliance, but I wanted to separate them when they were both still working together and before they got the chance to backstab each other like they've been saying the entire time.


	10. Days 23 to 24

Note to Charmynutty: I plan on accepting applications after I do Season 3. I know it's still a ways off, but I'm still not out of character ideas to use yet and I want to use them before I start accepting other people's fan characters.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"…_Okay. The sucked big time. Not only was nearly everyone one vote away from getting eliminated, but I lost my ally way earlier than I intended to go with him." Jack noted. "Roscoe's on the jury, so I know he'll vote for me if I get to the end, but half the trouble is actually GETTING there now…"_

"Okay, man. You got us. I don't know how you did it, but you got past our defenses and weakened us." Jack told Nelson.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Jack. I didn't vote for Roscoe." Nelson replied.

"Wait. You didn't? Then who did you vote for?"

"You wouldn't believe my reasoning." Nelson replied, casting a glance over at Molly and Mason, whom were talking.

"You see what just happened, Mason? Because you couldn't put your little rivalry aside, not only is Jack still here, but so is Nelson." Molly pointed out. "Mason, I'm trying to help you here, so why aren't you voting with me?"

"I told you that I wanted Jack gone first. Now Nelson is going to have to wait even longer." Mason replied.

"Mason, no! I NEED your vote this time!" Molly pleaded.

"_That was one close Tribal Council. Maybe I should be glad things were so chaotic or else I could have gotten kicked out. All it does, however, is delay my goal of getting even with Jack." Mason noted. "But really. I haven't been in a situation that close since I was fighting off a gauntlet of Locust with a machine gun that had long run out of ammo…"_

"_Mason has just jeopardized my entire plan and he doesn't even know he did it. In not voting off Nelson, we run an even greater risk of him finding out my secret." Molly said. "The fact that I got any votes at all is because he's getting suspicious. I need to make sure I keep my real identity under wraps to throw Nelson off, because now I have to put up with him breathing down my neck for another three days."_

Meanwhile, Anita and Ruth walked up to the shelter, looking pleased and surprised at the outcome of the vote.

"I-I'm glad we decided to go with your idea, Ruth." Anita said. "But are you sure voting Roscoe off w-was a good idea?"

"A strong alliance is just as much of a threat as physical strength." Ruth replied. "In taking out Roscoe, we've dropped Jack's defenses and decreased his overall threat level."

"Leaving us to focus on physical and jury threats?" Anita asked.

"You're catching on quick, Anita." Ruth said with a smirk.

"_When we realized that everyone had gotten a vote, Anita and I knew Roscoe was going because we had both voted for him." Ruth pointed out. "It gives us a sigh of relief because we hadn't had a lot of luck getting others to vote with us. Now maybe they will if we change targets."_

The nine remaining players decided to go to bed, knowing that the next day would provide answers for some questions.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 23)**

"_Roscoe was voted out last night, but what surprised me the most was that I had gotten a vote and was very close to getting eliminated." Charlotte pointed out. "I want to know who voted for me, because I know it had to be someone from my tribe. None of the Opito players know me well enough to vote for me."_

"Janine, did you vote for me last night?" Charlotte asked suspiciously.

"No. I voted for Anita because she was who I had been targeting for a while." Janine insisted.

"Ruth probably voted for me, then. She's probably after me for trying to get her out." Charlotte muttered as she stalked away, leaving Janine behind.

"She's gone." Janine called out.

Oiler emerged from behind a tree and Watched Charlotte go. "I don't know what I'll do once she finds out I voted for her." He admitted.

"I told you to vote for Anita, Oiler." Janine rolled her eyes.

"Charlotte's a bigger threat, though! You can't deny it!"

"_Oiler voted for Charlotte last night and he's been scared that she'll find out. She's getting close because she's already narrowed the culprit down to being someone from Eleda." Janine folded her arms. "I just hope Oiler's good at explaining himself, because once Charlotte finds out he voted for her, I'm not going to be able to get in between them."_

"_I voted for Charlotte because I thought she needed to go. She's capable of a lot more than she lets on, and she already lets on that she's capable of a lot." Oiler said nervously. "I needed to vote for her with hopes that she would be eliminated because people would see things the way I see them. I guess I was wrong on that."_

Charlotte had no luck getting anything out of Ruth, so the German woman walked along the beach before Molly waved her over. "Charlotte, can I talk to you for a minute?" The Minjo asked.

"Please. It'll take my mind off of what I'm trying to figure out." Charlotte replied as she came over.

"Look, I think it would be in your best interests to vote Nelson off next." Molly explained.

"Why Nelson? He doesn't seem like a threat." Charlotte reasoned.

"He's not a physical threat, but he's a severe mental threat." Molly replied. "Charlotte, you're obviously a sneaky person, but I know that Nelson is just as sneaky as you are. If you give him the chance, he'll blindside you before you even know it's happened."

Charlotte paused. "Nelson DOES seem the sneaky type. Are you sure?" She asked.

"How else do you think he's made it this far?" Molly asked.

"_I want to get more people on my side since Mason isn't thinking straight. Charlotte's just as crafty as me, only she doesn't hide it." Molly pointed out. "If I'll have any chance at securing a vote to get rid of Nelson, it would probably be with her."_

"_Molly makes a good point. Mason may be strong, but Nelson can easily beat most of us at a trivia challenge." Charlotte pointed out before sighing. "Great. Now I have multiple targets for when we go to Tribal Council."_

"Where IS Mason, anyway?" Charlotte asked. "I thought he was up by now."

"Uh…He WAS here a second ago." Molly scratched her head when she saw Mason wasn't with her.

"Where's Jack?" Charlotte asked flatly.

Meanwhile, Nelson had gone over to talk with Ruth and Anita after Charlotte had left them. The nerd couldn't help but smile despite the fact that the vote didn't go his way.

"You guys were the ones that voted off Roscoe, weren't you?" Nelson asked.

"We were. We thought that separating a strong alliance was more-important than targeting a physical threat." Ruth replied.

"Your logic makes sense. Believe me." Nelson said. "I'm just glad I'm still here. Now I think I actually have a chance at avenging all of my allies that the others backstabbed."

"If you're interested, we're thinking of targeting Mason next."

"_I know it isn't an official alliance, and I'm almost afraid to call it that because I think I'll jinx Anita and Ruth, but I think this will work perfectly." Nelson said. "I can avenge Urtha, Shamus and Ginny out here with help, and that's just what I intend on doing. I don't care who goes first as long as they get what they deserve in the end."_

"_Nelson's got a good head on his shoulders and was just struck with major bad luck in the pre-merge days. I don't feel bad giving him a bit of a hand." Ruth pointed out. "Now that we've weakened a strong alliance, we can focus on some threats and take them out while we have the chance, depending on who wins Immunity."_

"I think Mason's a good target, but Molly's a jury threat." Nelson pointed out. "If he wins Immunity, would she be a good target?"

"But Molly's an even lesser physical threat than I am." Ruth reminded. "We could take her out anytime."

"But that still-"

"Okay, seriously! Get away from me, man!" Jack's voice shouted. "You just made me lose the fish I was in the process of catching!"

Everyone in the camp turned to see Jack by the fishing spot, Mason standing over him and not looking pleased.

"_I figured it was high time I told Jack what I thought of him. This would make everyone see things my way and get rid of him." Mason said. "If this doesn't work and ends up with Jack getting eliminated, I don't know what will." _

"It serves you right!" Mason said. "You still think I'm useless?! Have you even HEARD what I've been saying all this time?!"

"Trust me, it's what I've been wanting to forget for about twenty days now!" Jack moaned.

"You think I'm afraid of your back-talking?! I had to kill five strong Locust with a broken bottle!" Mason roared. "My team considers me the best there is because of my accomplishments!"

Sitting aside silently, Anita's eye started twitching.

"And what accomplishments would those be?" Jack rolled his eyes. "Being able to tie your shoes in the morning?"

"Don't give me that! I was the third person in history to hijack an enemy monster capable of mass destruction and then turn it on the Locust!" Mason shouted. "You think your insults will affect my self-esteem?!"

"No, because that would mean that you actually had any to begin with."

"M-Mason, please! This isn't the best time!" Molly said, getting in between the two.

Mason didn't listen. "I've squashed FOOT SOLDIERS twice my size!" He said. "You think I'll let someone like you walk all over me?! The Locust King himself wasn't even given the chance before I splattered him everywhere!"

Anita was clenching her fists and forming a scowl. Her eye was twitching at a much-higher rate now. People were too focused on Jack and Mason to pay attention to her.

"Jack, calm down." Nelson said as he approached the koopa.

"This moron just cost us the biggest meal we could have had yet!" Jack snapped. "And for what? Some self-satisfying rivalry that I don't even know about?"

"The last person that called me useless was a huge Locust and that was right before I shoved a broken-down chainsaw through its stomach!" Mason said. "You think I'm going to let you get the best of me now?!"

"Why not? You've been doing it since we started." Jack shrugged.

"If you think I'm going to take that after I survived thirty-five angry Locust soldiers at once by myself, then you've got-"

"SHUT UP!!!"

Everyone turned and saw a furious Anita storming over, not looking like anything they had seen from her in the game.

"Shut up! Shut up!!" Anita shouted as she got into Mason's face. "J-Just shut up!! I've H-HAD it with your bragging!!"

Mason back away. "Uh…What?" He asked, stunned at the furious teenager.

"You don't know ANYTHING about survival!! You're definition of 'survival' is going against an army of SEMI-advanced beings w-while armed with guns, explosives, high-powers vehicles and a platoon of s-soldiers that are armed with the same things as you are!!" Anita roared. "I had to spend five days trapped in my school, with no way to get out, with a psychotic, murderous, vengeful, UNKILLABLE spirit!!!"

Everyone watched as Anita started getting more and more hysterical, as if they had seen this behavior after she had woken up from a nightmare. No one dared to stop her.

"Everyone trapped in the school with me…My ENTIRE class!! They were all k-k-killed off one by o-one in horrific, g-gruesome and extremely-violent ways!!!" Anita shrieked, making Mason back away from her even more, despite the fact that Anita still got into his face. "W-When we all found our teacher, it was j-just his upper torso hanging from the inside of a broom closet!!"

That was more than enough to make everyone stare at Anita with wide eyes. She still wasn't done.

"And to top it all off, the s-spirit couldn't be harmed!! One of my f-friends died trying to k-kill it! All I could do was h-hide for five days, hoping and p-praying that it w-wouldn't find me!!" Anita shouted, tears streaming down her face. "T-Ten students and t-three adults were all killed within five days, most while I was watching!! And the worst part?! Every time I have a nightmare, I r-relive one of those d-deaths!! S-S-So just shut up about survival, b-because I've been through way m-more than you!!"

With that, Anita turned and ran away, face in her hands, leaving everyone frozen, eyes wide and slack-jawed. Ruth quickly rushed after her.

_Jack sat on a stump in stunned silence. He quickly removed his shades. "That…That was so messed up!! Is that what's been bugging the kid since the start?!" He asked. "How is she not in a lifetime of therapy after that?! Mind you, I can't really blame her for the nightmares, though. Anyone that goes through something like that has a right to be that terrified."_

_Anita sat on a rock, sobbing into her hands and not paying any attention to the camera. "I…I h-had to do it…I h-had to…" She sobbed in between tears._

Anita sat behind the shelter and curled into a ball, pressed against the back of the shelter. As Anita continued to cry, Ruth approached her, sat down beside her and silently pulled the hysterical girl in for a comforting hug.

Not a lot of people felt like going to sleep when night came in, especially not with Anita's recent outburst. Anita once again slept outside the shelter, but this time Ruth was out there with her.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 24)**

"_Well, due to Anita's little outburst yesterday, I don't think she's going to be targeted for a bit. Whether or not it was her intention to play the sympathy card, it worked." Molly explained. "Not that it really mattered. She's in no real danger yet and by the time she DOES get eliminated, people won't feel as bad voting her off."_

"Mason, about that little outburst yesterday." Molly said.

"It's already forgotten, Molly. I assure you." Mason said. "I don't hold anything against Anita for yelling at me."

Molly blinked. "Uh…Have you tried to apologize at all?" She asked.

"Why? I didn't do anything wrong."

"…_Seriously?! Mason doesn't even make the attempt to save himself and at least admit that he was at fault for setting Anita off?!" Molly asked. "I DID think that it would be possible to pull Mason out of this, but since he hasn't made the attempt to make things right, I'm sure everyone's mad at him after that."_

"_I'm actually impressed that Anita was able to survive such a feat. It makes me feel good to know that there are people out there capable of surviving as much as I do." Mason said with a smirk. "I know that she got a little riled up, but hey, it's the very first life-threatening situation she survived. Anyone would be scared at that point."_

Meanwhile, Anita was walking up to the treemail box alone, her head still hanging low.

"Um…Anita?"

Anita turned and saw Ruth coming over, looking more concerned than she had ever been in the competition. "Oh…H-Hi, Ruth." She said.

"Anita, I can't believe that you had to go through all of that. All of a sudden, your nightmares make perfect sense." Ruth said. "I can understand why you didn't want to tell us anything, but I wish I could have known about it before."

Anita sighed. "I…I c-can't change what happened at my school." Anita replied. "I j-just hope that I n-never have to deal with anything like it again. I'm s-sorry I yelled at Mason, though. I f-feel bad about it."

"He had it coming, dear." Ruth replied. "In fact, I think we should target him next."

"_Mason was the one to set Anita off, and when someone causes something like that to happen to such a timid girl, it's time for me to set things straight." Ruth said. "I did it with Buzz back on day 3, and I can do it again. It'll be easier now, though. Not only is the majority of the people angry at Mason, but he's a physical threat."_

"_I r-really appreciate Ruth for being so supportive of m-me since the start. I know s-she can be a little crafty, but at least her heart's in the r-right place." Anita admitted. "As f-far as my nightmares g-go, I'm sort of g-glad I got it all off my chest. It m-makes me feel good for s-some reason…"_

Anita reached into the treemail box and pulled out an envelope. "L-Looks like the next challenge is up." She said.

"Then let's go show it to the others." Ruth said.

The two went back to camp as Anita carried the treemail. Everyone gathered around the two when Anita announced that they had mail.

"Is it Reward or Immunity?" Jack asked.

"D-Doesn't say." Anita asks. "It's w-wondering if we're g-good at obstacle courses."

Mason cracked his knuckles. "Let me at it." He said. "This is gonna be good."

"I wouldn't be so confident." Janine warned, looking cross. "We're all fairly athletic."

"_If Mason thinks we're going to forget what he said to cause Anita's little outbreak yesterday, he's got another thing coming." Janine said. "Sorry, but when you're given a choice between a timid girl with a messed-up past or an egotistical man who probably didn't do half the things he says he did, who do you think people will side with?"_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The nine finalists emerged from the jungle and into a large clearing. Walking over to the gold mat on the ground, everyone stepped on and waited for the host to start talking.

"Welcome to your second individual Immunity Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will see exactly how nimble and athletic you all are." SSBFreak pointed out. Everyone suddenly saw a line of nine obstacle courses, most of the parts going over a small body of water. "These obstacle courses are made up of four parts, and they all must be crossed in order to finish. First, there is a crawl under a low-hanging rope fence, followed by a long, narrow beam over the water. After that, you have to climb a wall of slippery rocks, and then finish the challenge by jumping across four small platforms over the water. Keep in mind that if you fall on any of these obstacles, you have to keep trying it until you finish. The first person to finish the course will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

Everyone looked at the obstacle course, knowing that this would be an extremely-painful challenge to try and do.

"If you'll all get into position, we can start." SSBFreak continued.

Everyone lined up at the starts of the obstacle course, at the start of the low-hanging rope net, ready to start.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready?" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

Everyone quickly dove under the rope net, although Ruth and Oiler took the time to get onto all fours before starting the trek through the course.

The finalists crawled under the netting, on their stomachs because there really wasn't much room to get on their knees underneath the ropes.

Charlotte, Janine, Jack and Nelson took an early lead, crawling faster than any of the others and were well on their way to get out of the first obstacle well ahead of anyone else. Anita, Mason and Molly were falling a bit behind, but looked in relatively-good shape. Oiler and Ruth brought up the rear for taking the extra time to get close to the ground before starting.

It didn't take long for the leaders to emerge from underneath the rope net. Jack had emerged first, while Charlotte and Nelson came out at almost the same time right after. As the three raced up the short staircases to the narrow beams, Janine emerged from underneath the netting.

Charlotte and Jack took a moment to get their balance as they started walking across the beam over the water. Nelson, on the other hand, raced across without thinking. He promptly lost his balance and fell off the beam less than halfway across.

"Nelson's in the water! If he wants to catch up, he has to try the obstacle again!" SSBFreak announced.

As Nelson swam over to the start of the narrow beam to try again, Charlotte wobbled for a second before plunging into the water as well. The German woman moaned as she started swimming back to the start to climb out of the water.

Janine started her trek across the narrow beam as Nelson climbed out of the water. Janine managed to make it about one-third of the distance before falling into the water.

Around this time, Anita emerged from underneath the netting. As the blonde girl rushed up to the beam, Mason and Molly finished the first obstacle.

As a soaking-wet Nelson and Charlotte started making their way across the beam, Nelson much-more carefully this time, Jack had managed to make it to the end of the narrow beam on his first attempt. The koopa smirked as he rushed over to the nearby rock wall on the platform he had stepped onto.

"Jack is currently on the rock wall while almost everyone else is on the narrow beams." SSBFreak announced. "Oiler and Ruth are still at the low-hanging rope net."

Charlotte growled as she stepped up the pace, still being careful not to fall into the water again. "I won't let him beat me that easily." She said to herself.

At the same time, Nelson was slowly managing to work his way across. The lanky nerd was going at a much-slower pace than Charlotte, but he was still well ahead of the others.

Mason started making his way across, trying to catch up with Anita, whom was nervously trying to get herself across. Mason didn't last long and almost instantly fell into the water. Molly rolled her eyes as she started walking across her narrow beam, a little easier due to her small stature.

Jack grabbed a rock and pulled himself higher up the wall. "Okay. This isn't that bad. I just need to have a good grip here." He said to himself as he pulled himself up higher.

Meanwhile, Charlotte had just made it across the beam. Narrowing her eyes in determination, she raced over to her rock wall and started climbing it at a faster rate. She quickly lost her grip and fell back down, but quickly tried again and started climbing.

Oiler and Ruth finally emerged from the netting at the start of the course. The two raced up to the narrow beam and started walking across, passing Mason (whom had fallen off a second time). Oiler fell off the beam quickly.

In the meantime, Nelson had made it across the beam. "That was more nerve-wracking than I would have liked." He sighed as he went over to the rock wall and started climbing. Back on the narrow beam, Anita and Molly had just fallen off.

"Nelson has just arrived at the rock wall, but has to catch up with Charlotte, who in turn has to catch up with Jack." SSBFreak announced. "Everyone else is at the narrow beams, but Janine and Ruth are the only ones not currently in the water."

While climbing, Jack looked to his left and saw that Charlotte was rapidly gaining on him. The shaded koopa growled. "Not gonna happen, sister!" He roared as he picked up the pace.

Of course, this just made Charlotte climb faster as well. "Run, coward! Run!!" She taunted with a maniacal grin as she climbed after Jack.

Meanwhile, Nelson fell flat on his back after the third attempt at climbing the rock wall. The lanky nerd grunted in annoyance as he scratched his head. "How the heck am I supposed to do this?" He asked as he grabbed hold of a rock and tried climbing again. This time, he was starting to gain a little bit of elevation. "Okay. I think I'm getting the hang of this now."

Anita, now soaking wet, stumbled her way across the beam, pausing every time she felt herself losing her balance. Passing Mason (whom promptly fell off the beam again), Anita paused for a few seconds before continuing onward. Janine was just ahead of her, also taking an extremely-cautious approach after falling in the water a few times.

Oiler climbed back onto the beam and started walking across. Unfortunately, he slipped a short ways into his walk and hit the beam on the way down into the water. Oiler's leg popped off as he went down. In the meantime, Ruth had overtaken Molly after the Minjo had fallen off the beam close to the end of it. The elderly Raposa slowly made her way across, without mistake but still far behind the leaders.

Jack scrambled to the top of the rock wall. By now, Charlotte was almost right behind him as she climbed the rock wall on her obstacle course (Nelson was about halfway up his). Jack raced over to the edge of the platform he was on that overlooked the four small platforms that were out in the water. Looking down, Jack saw that he was at least fifteen feet above the water. Jack hesitated a moment, but he leapt out to the first platform and landed wobbly on it.

In the meantime, Charlotte had finished the climb to the top of her rock wall. In a similar fashion to Jack, the German woman raced over to the edge of the platform and took a moment's hesitation before leaping out to the first platform.

Jack grunted when he saw Charlotte right behind him. "How many times must I do things faster than you?!" He asked before leaping to the second platform.

"As many times as it takes, comrade!" Charlotte shouted as she leapt to her second platform. Unfortunately, she didn't hit it dead on and fell headfirst into the water.

"Charlotte's down! This leaves things wide open for Jack!" SSBFreak announced.

Jack grinned. "That's more like it." He said as he leapt to the third platform. However, he didn't leap far enough and slammed into the pillar the platform was on, causing Jack to fall into the water for the first time.

"Jack's in the water as well!" SSBFreak said. "If Nelson hurries to the top of his rock wall, he can win!"

Janine finally reached the end of the narrow beam and instantly started climbing. "This'll be a piece of cake." The strongwoman said to herself as she climbed upwards with ease. "I just need to do this fast."

Shortly after Janine had started climbing her rock wall, Charlotte had climbed to the top of hers. Because she had fallen into the water earlier than Jack, she was actually ahead of him now. Not wanting to waste the lead, Charlotte leapt to the first platform with ease. By the time Jack had climbed back up onto his starting platform, Charlotte had also jumped to the second platform.

"Come on! Fall!" Jack taunted as he leapt to his first platform.

"Not a chance, comrade!" Charlotte replied as she leapt to her third platform and landed on it.

Jack growled. "I was so close! I need to beat her!" He said as he leapt to his second platform in a last-ditch attempt to catch up.

By now, everyone else had realized that they had no chance. Nelson had just finished his climb to the top of his rock wall, Janine was halfway up and Anita had just started. Ruth and Molly had just crossed their narrow beams while Mason and Oiler still hadn't crossed their beams yet.

Unfortunately, Jack didn't get the chance to catch up. Charlotte landed on the fourth and final platform, and then quickly jumped to the nearby finish platform to end her run.

"And that's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Charlotte wins Immunity!"

Charlotte let out a victorious cheer and dove off her platform, landing into the water cleanly.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Charlotte." SSBFreak said as he placed the Immunity Headdress on Charlotte. "You have a one-in-eight chance at winning the game."

"Thank you, comrade." Charlotte said with a smirk.

SSBFreak turned to the others. "However, I will be seeing all of you tonight at Tribal Council, where one more of you will be voted off. All I can say is that I really hope the results aren't as chaotic as they were last time." SSBFreak said. "I'll give you the rest of the day to make the decision, so you can all head back to camp for now."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_I won Immunity today, which is good because I was close to being voted out last time. Then again, I guess we all were." Charlotte said. "Strategically, I'd still like to vote out Ruth, but I know that people will be targeting Mason because he set Anita off the way he did. I don't want to do it yet, but if I don't vote with everyone else, I'll be singled out."_

"It's going to be Mason, right?" Ruth asked.

"Now we've all got a reason to get rid of him." Jack said. "It'll be good to go through a day without having him breathing down my neck."

"I'm fine with the vote. And we're taking out a threat at the same time." Nelson shrugged.

"Dude, have you SEEN how Mason does challenges?" Jack asked incredulously. "The lugnut couldn't even make it past the second obstacle."

"_Frankly, I don't care who gets voted out as long as it's someone from Opito. I really think my patience is starting to pay off." Nelson said. "Now is the time for me to strike back on the others and take them all out for everything they put me through since we started."_

After the decision had been made, Jack went over to talk to Molly. "We're voting out Mason." He said.

"And by 'we' you mean 'you', right?" Molly asked.

"No. I'm serious this time. Everyone's on board."

Molly paused, then looked down in thought. After a few seconds, she looked at Jack again. "Okay. You've made your point." She said. "I just hope I can get by without him."

"You've still got me, right?"

"I suppose so."

"_Personally, I'd like to take Mason a little bit further into the game because I know I'll have an uphill fight without him around." Molly said. "However, he's dug himself far deeper than I care to help him out of, and everyone voted out from this point on will be on the jury. At least if I get rid of him and make it look like I feel bad about it, he'll vote for me."_

"_I'm still voting for Jack. The challenge today proved that he's a physical threat because he got extremely close to winning." Mason pointed out. "I'm sure people will vote him out because they see him that way and I'll finally be rid of him. This Tribal Council is going to be unanimous. I can feel it."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The nine remaining players walked into Tribal Council, each carrying a lit torch. Finding their spots on the stumps, everyone sat down and waited for the council to start.

"Before we begin, let's bring in the members of our jury." SSBFreak said. "Although currently, the only person on the jury is Roscoe, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Everyone watched as Roscoe came back into Tribal Council. The large rat was now wearing a leather jacket, which was opened to reveal a white shirt. Roscoe was wearing shades and his red cap was gone, showing the tuft of gray fur that was underneath it. Roscoe walked over to an empty bench and sat down alone.

"Roscoe is just here to observe. You are not to address him and he will not address you." SSBFreak explained. "Jack, you've apparently been in an alliance with Roscoe, so how did you feel after the results from the last Tribal Council?"

"You kidding? I was shocked at how the voting went. Roscoe and I just thought that the physical threats would be targeted first, but apparently, there was more going on than we originally thought there was." Jack scratched his head.

"Amen to that." Roscoe muttered, folding his arms.

"Will Roscoe's absence affect your game?"

"Oh, yeah. With him gone, it's going to be a tough road because we've relied on each other for most of what we did." Jack replied. "It'll be hard, but I'm going to try."

"Anita, I hear that you've told everyone where your nightmares originated from." SSBFreak said. "How do you feel?"

"I f-f-feel fine now. I-I just don't like reliving those d-days I suffered through." Anita said, slumping. "I d-didn't want to bring it up, but I j-just couldn't take it anymore."

"Keeping feelings bottled up too long will do that." Mason shrugged.

Anita's eye started twitching again as she silently pulled her fist back to give Mason a sucker-punch. Janine held her back.

"Do you think you revealing why you're so scared will stop the nightmares?"

"NOTHING w-will stop the nightmares." Anita shook her head. "W-What I lived through j-just can't be forgotten."

"Yeah, man! I mean, that was so messed up!" Jack added. "I think I'LL be having nightmares after hearing what Anita went through!"

"Suddenly, I'm glad I missed it." Roscoe said with a smirk.

"Charlotte, you won Immunity." SSBFreak pointed out. "Did you need it?"

"After the last Tribal Council, we ALL needed it." Charlotte replied, rolling her eyes. "The last Tribal Council was a wake-up call for all of us to step up our game, and I intend to do just that."

"Do you think you would have been voted off tonight if you didn't have it?"

"Not this time. I'm almost confident the vote will go a lot smoother tonight and I'm not a target now."

"Not yet, anyway." Roscoe muttered.

"Mason, who do you think is going home?" SSBFreak asked.

"Jack. Who else?" Mason asked. "I mean, he was extremely-close to winning Immunity. I think that tells everyone that he's a physical threat."

"Are you just saying that?"

"Yes, he is." Roscoe said with a smirk.

"Why would I do that? That obstacle course was near-impossible for me to do and yet Jack almost won it!" Mason insisted. "He's a lot stronger than people think."

"Okay, I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Charlotte, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"

"Definitely."

"Charlotte is immune and cannot be voted out tonight. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Anita, you're up."

Anita got up and left the hut, going down to the table. "Y-You deserve this." The blonde girl said as she wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Charlotte, still wearing the headdress, wrote a name down. "It's against my better judgment, but I need to go with the flow." She said as she voted and left the table.

Jack scribbled a name down and turned his ballot around, showing Mason's name. "This will be the final nail on the coffin." He said with a smirk as he placed the ballot into the urn.

Molly, still shaking her head in hopelessness, wrote a name onto the ballot and placed it into the urn. "Now the game begins…" She said as she left the table.

Nelson couldn't help but grin as he wrote a name down. The lanky nerd shoved the ballot into the urn and left the table, still smirking.

Janine, eyes narrowed, wrote a name down. Making sure she voted for the right person, Janine placed the ballot into the jar and left the table.

Ruth wrote a name down, looking ticked-off. The elderly Raposa gave the camera a stern glare, as it directing it to the person she was voting for, before voting and walking away.

Mason smirked and wrote a name down, showing it for all to see. "Everyone will see things my way now." He said proudly, having voted for Jack once again.

Oiler was the last to vote. He approached the table and wrote a name down, placing it into the urn. The test dummy gave a satisfied nod before leaving the table.

Once all nine people had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately. If anyone has the Immunity Idol, now would be the time to play it." He explained. Again, no one moved. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote, Mason." Mason couldn't help but smirk.

"Jack. That's one for Mason and one for Jack." Mason gave Jack a sinister and triumphant smirk.

"…Mason." Mason paused, then looked at the host, confused.

"Mason." "Wait. What?"

"Mason." On the jury bench, Roscoe gave a smirk.

"Mason." Mason turned to Jack, whom waved slyly.

"Mason." "How did…"

"Mason." Anita couldn't help but feel great. "Last vote, second member of the jury and tenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Mason. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak explained.

Mason slowly stood up. "How could you all do this?" He asked everyone with wide eyes. He quietly grabbed his torch and approached the host.

"Mason, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Mason's flame. "It's time for you to go."

"This was a mistake." Mason warned everyone as he left Tribal Council.

Once Mason was gone, SSBFreak turned to the others. "And so ends another Tribal Council, which proves that even if you think you're safe, you aren't. Mason didn't see that coming, though I can't understand how." He admitted. "There are eight of you left, and one more will fall shortly. However, considering how some people have been eliminated, I wouldn't suggest ruling yourself out as a target. You can all head back to camp."

The eight remaining players stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Both Jack and Anita brought up the rear, both looking extremely pleased with how the vote had gone. The two looked at each other and they each gave a smirk. Although they each had their own reasons, they had both eliminated who they had wanted.

"_I don't get their logic. Why would they vote me off when Jack is clearly a bigger challenge threat? He deserves to be here; not me." Mason insisted defiantly. "I can't believe that everyone voted me out though. Was Molly pressured to vote for me? I don't know of any other reason she would want to get rid of me…"_

**Voting History:**

**Mason – Anita, Charlotte, Jack, Janine, Molly, Nelson, Oiler and Ruth**

**Jack – Mason**

Author's Note: Mason's an interesting case. He was one of the first characters I cast, but his sole purpose was to be the one to set off Anita like he did. As soon as he did what he was meant to do, he became expendable and was promptly booted.


	11. Days 25 to 27

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_Voting off Mason is the best thing that possibly could have happened, not only to me, but to Anita as well." Jack explained with a smirk. "Now I don't have to put up with his annoying antics and Anita doesn't have to listen to his constant bragging. If you ask me, I couldn't be happier with the results."_

"I think that went well." Jack said triumphantly as the remaining eight players walked back into camp.

"He definitely had it coming." Janine rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad things will be a lot quieter around here."

Meanwhile, Molly was keeping to herself, looking upset but was in reality extremely frustrated.

"_It was a little sooner than I expected, but I was forced to eliminate Mason. While I can play the sympathy card to him for his vote, saying that I was forced to vote him off, getting to the finals without him will be tough." Molly pointed out. "Right now, the only person I have left in my little alliance is Jack, and even then I'm not sure how well he can carry me through the game."_

Oiler saw Molly's downtrodden look and patted her on the shoulder. "I know you were friends with him, but it had to be done." He told her. "Not only was he a physical threat, but he had made everyone else pretty angry."

Molly sighed. "I know. I guess that's why I voted with you guys." She said. "I knew there wasn't a chance at saving him."

"Well, he brought it on himself."

"I suppose he WAS asking for it…"

As Molly talked, Nelson stood aside, arms folded. He lifted an eyebrow in suspicion.

"…_I dunno. I'm just getting these weird feelings about Molly. Shamus was acting strange around her early in the game, and now I think it was because he was suspicious of her." Nelson admitted. "The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Molly may have spearheaded all of my allies' eliminations, while keeping low at the same time. I mean, who's going to suspect the nice girl that everyone likes?"_

"I suggest we go to bed. We may or may not have a challenge tomorrow, and I want to make sure I'm ready for it." Charlotte suggested.

Everyone else agreed and went to sleep, feeling a little more room in the shelter by now. Even Anita was sleeping in the shelter.

"_N-No, my nightmares won't be subsiding now that I've told everyone why I have them. I'm j-just glad I got to tell them." Anita said. "I t-think I may have an easier time sleeping n-now that I revealed my dreams, but I c-can assure you that m-my nightmares will still continue. I j-just hope I don't get eliminated because of it."_

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 25)**

"_There are just two weeks left in the competition. This is when things get even MORE fierce than they already have." Janine said. "I know that I'm going to have an uphill battle because I'm a physical threat, and the fact that we just voted out the OTHER physical threat makes me stand out even more."_

"Charlotte, I think I'm going to need your help." Janine said as she approached the German woman.

"How so?" Charlotte asked in reply.

"I think it would be a good idea to team up." Janine replied. "You know. Form a separate alliance with you?"

"Why are you interested in it in the first place?" Charlotte asked.

"Because we're both big threats. I'm a physical threat and you're a strategic threat." Janine reminded. "I think it's obvious that neither of us will hold on for the entire game if we don't do something like team up."

Charlotte paused in thought, then nodded. "Okay, but on one condition. If you or Oiler win the next Reward, send me to Exile Island." She stated. "I want to find that idol since Roscoe apparently didn't have it."

"Deal."

"_Teaming up with Janine may be a good thing to do on my part, because I know she's not a jury threat." Charlotte reasoned. "If I take her to the end, I'm pretty sure more people will vote for me because of my gameplay. I mean, what exactly has Janine done in the game thus far?"_

Meanwhile, Nelson was off talking with Ruth and Anita, discussing targets for who to go after next.

"Who's left on your old tribe? I think it's just down to you, Jack and Molly." Ruth said. "You think we should target Jack next?"

"Y-Yes. He's a bigger physical threat than Molly." Anita supplied.

Nelson looked hesitant. "Actually, I want Molly to go next." He replied. "Jack was at least sorry for taking out my allies, so I think I want to keep him around longer."

Ruth paused, then shrugged. "If that's what you feel like doing, then that's fine with me." She replied.

"_We've been doing a good job thus far of taking out Opito players so they can't gang up on us, and Nelson seems okay with that because he wants revenge." Ruth said with a smirk. "I honestly don't care who he goes for next. In fact, if he doesn't want to get rid of Jack at all, maybe we can get his help to eliminate some threats from Eleda's side…"_

"_I sorta played that card to get Ruth and Anita's support in voting out Molly. For some reason, I feel that I need to get rid of her before it gets too late into the game." Nelson scratched his head. "She could become a major jury threat because everyone likes her, so that should make her an easy target because she's not a physical threat."_

"So you don't want Jack to go right away?" Ruth asked. "Maybe you can help us vote out someone after we get rid of Molly."

"Sure. Who're you thinking of?" Nelson asked.

"Charlotte, for starters."

"I t-think she's becoming kind of like the first guy we k-kicked off." Anita pointed out. "I'm n-not sure if I like her now."

"She has the potential to outsmart all of us. I know that if we let her, she'll win."

"Yeah. I guess you guys are right…" Nelson noted.

"_I know Charlotte's targeting me, so if we can get Nelson to help us vote her out, it makes things better for us." Ruth pointed out. "I know that if I go, Anita's next on Charlotte's hitlist, so I need to make sure we both outlast her, because there's no way we'll beat her if she takes one of us out."_

Meanwhile, Jack was sitting aside, talking with Molly at the fire pit.

"So what now? I say we target Janine since she's the biggest threat left in the game." Jack said.

"I know. And now that Mason's gone, she's the biggest threat here." Molly nodded. "Do you think we'd be able to get the others to help us in voting her off?"

"I think so. Anita and Ruth seem to have been voting for the threats thus far, so I think I'll run the idea past them." Jack replied.

"As long as it works." Molly replied, her head low. "I don't want to get eliminated now that my main ally is gone."

"We can still pull it off, Molly. Believe me."

"_Over the course of the last three days, I've lost two allies. While this means more jury votes for me, I still have the problem of getting to the finals." Molly pointed out, looking frustrated. "I think I may need to find a new ally, because I REALLY don't think Jack is capable of taking the both of us to the finals, not that I'd let him get that far…"_

"_Molly helped us get rid of Mason. This means that I have her trust. I'm going to need to help her through the next few rounds before I eliminate her, but I need to make sure I have her vote." Jack pointed out. "We'll focus on Janine first, and then try to get Charlotte voted out. I think Ruth would like that since they've apparently been at odds. We'll probably have her vote then."_

Janine walked over to Oiler, whom was fishing. The test dummy reeled in a large fish just as the cavewoman approached. "This thing'll feed all of us tonight." Oiler said with a smirk. "I don't think I've caught anything this big yet."

"That's good. We're definitely going to be having more left over since there's getting to be less of us around here." Janine nodded.

Oiler paused. "I saw you talking with Charlotte earlier, Janine." He said. "You planning on another alliance?"

"No, Oiler. We're just bringing Charlotte into ours." Janine replied.

"She still targeting Ruth?"

"Yes, and I don't see that changing anytime soon."

"So are we going along with it?"

"Maybe. We'll see how far this takes us."

"_Janine's a good leader, but she's not the best at making her own decisions. The only reason she's stopped targeting Anita is because of her little outburst." Oiler pointed out. "Not that I mind, but she seems to need my input for everything and has really gotten annoyed at me when I voted for someone other than who she had voted for. Kinda makes me wonder if I'M the leader of the alliance and I just don't know it…"_

"_I would rather be on Charlotte's good side than not, so this means that I have to align with her to take out Anita and Ruth." Janine explained. "I know Charlotte's capable of scheming. She wouldn't be here if she couldn't. However, now I need to worry about how I can avoid getting eliminated over this in the future…"_

Meanwhile, Nelson had just left Ruth and Anita, whom looked at each other.

"I think Nelson may have another reason for wanting to target Molly first." Ruth pointed out.

"Y-You think so?" Anita asked.

"Jack may have felt sorry for Nelson, but you have to admit that he still willingly helped the others, and he's a much-bigger threat than Molly."

"Maybe he just doesn't like Molly?" Anita suggested.

"That's a possibility, but I still think there's something more to it…"

"_R-Ruth thinks Nelson h-has a secret reason for wanting M-Molly off first. We c-can't figure it out, but we'll still r-respect his wishes." Anita said. "I m-mean, he's willingly w-wanting to eliminate his old tribe-mates anyway…"_

Night came in eventually. The eight finalists went to bed, knowing that there was a challenge tomorrow that they needed to be ready for.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 26)**

"_I think I'm in a good position as of now. With Janine and Oiler finally on my side, I have more numbers for votes." Charlotte said. "However, I still need more. Maybe I can get Jack and Molly to join me as well. This would give me a near-perfect majority and I can finally have the vote go the way I want it to."_

"Molly, I would like to make you an offer." Charlotte said as she followed Molly to the treemail box.

"What is it?" Molly asked.

"An alliance. I'm already in an alliance with Janine and Oiler, but I think we'll need an extra set of hands to give us the majority."

Molly paused. "Well, it sounds like a good idea." She reasoned. "But I don't want you targeting Ruth yet. I still think Nelson's a bigger threat."

"I can deal with that." Charlotte replied. "I know Nelson is a big strategic threat, but if it will solidify your vote, then we'll get rid of him first."

"It will. If you help me with this, I'll vote off whoever you want." Molly said happily.

"_This is good. I can finally get rid of Nelson before he gets too wise about me, and thus keep my identity a secret from everyone else." Molly cackled. "I know this isn't going to be a formal alliance with Charlotte, but maybe I can have her carry me through a couple of rounds before I kick her off."_

Molly reached into the treemail box and pulled out an envelope. "Looks like we've got a challenge." She said.

"I predict another Reward Challenge considering we haven't had one in a while." Charlotte reasoned.

The two went back to the camp and alerted everyone else. As everyone gathered around, Molly read the letter. "It says 'How well can you fare one-on-one'?" She said.

"It's going to be some sort of tournament challenge." Jack noted with a smirk. "This could get interesting."

"Speak for yourself." Ruth rolled her eyes.

"_I've gotten extremely close to winning these individual challenges, but that could be mainly because I have to worry about everyone else." Jack reasoned. "If it's a one-on-one tournament, then I'll have a better shot because all I have to focus on is one opponent. All I need to hope for is that I get pitted against someone I can beat."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The eight players walked onto the beach and saw their mat. Going over to the tribe mat, everyone stepped on and waited for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will pit you all against each other is a tournament of strength and stamina." SSBFreak said. Everyone suddenly saw two tall posts with a platform at the top just behind the host. "You will face off against each other one-on-one in elimination matches. The object is to use the long poles we provide you to push your opponent off his or her platform. The winner moves on in the tournament and we will keep going until we only have one winner. Also, due to a little intentional accident in the previous season that ended with someone getting evacuated, we don't want any hard hitting. The winner of this challenge wins a day-long trip to a tropical part of the island, which I may say is a lot more pleasing to look at than what you guys have now."

Some of the people looked visibly relieved that there wouldn't be any injuries this time around, but looked nervous just the same.

"The fights will be chosen randomly, so let's begin…"

**(Later…)**

Jack and Oiler stared each other down as they stood on the platforms, each holding a pole.

"Okay. The first fight of round 1 is Jack vs. Oiler." SSBFreak announced. "Start!"

Jack swung his pole, but Oiler managed to block it with his. The two countered each other's attacks for a few seconds before Oiler pushed Jack back while blocking one of the koopa's attacks. Jack stepped back and almost fell off the platform, but managed to regain his balance.

"Hmm…Maybe if I…" Jack pondered as he stepped forward and jabbed at Oiler. The pole went past Oiler's defenses and poked him in the torso. Oiler suddenly fell apart, losing his arms, legs and head as he fell off the platform.

"Uh…Jack wins and advances!" SSBFreak said as Oiler started to gather himself (literally). "Oiler is out!"

Ruth and Nelson were next. The height distance between the two was almost comical. The elderly Raposa sighed. "Why am I even trying?" She asked.

"The next fight is Ruth vs. Nelson." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

The fight wasn't even fair. Nelson easily pushed Ruth's smaller form off the platform, causing the elder player to fall flat on her back.

"Ugh…That's going to leave a mark." Ruth moaned.

"Nelson wins and advances! Ruth is out!"

Charlotte was staring down Anita. The blonde girl was nervously staring at the German woman and Charlotte, seeing her fear, gave a smirk.

"The next fight is Charlotte vs. Anita." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Anita didn't get a hit in. Most of the time she was on the platform was spent blocking Charlotte's attacks. In the end, Charlotte easily overpowered Anita and pushed her off the platform.

"Too easy." Charlotte said with a smirk.

"Charlotte wins and advances! Anita is out!"

Molly looked up at Janine. The cavewoman scratched her head. "Uh…Do we even need to DO this?" She asked.

"Yes. The final fight of round one is Molly vs. Janine." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Janine simply jabbed Molly once, lightly pushing the Minjo off the platform with little to no effort. Molly fell onto the sand and groaned as she got up.

"This challenge was not made for me." Molly sighed.

"Janine wins and advances! Molly is out!"

Jack and Nelson were next. The koopa and nerd looked at each other determinedly, knowing that this fight would be rough.

"The first fight of round two is Jack vs. Nelson." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

The two exchanged blows for a few seconds, each one landing a hit. It was clear that this fight wouldn't be as one-sided as the others were. It actually looked real close for a moment. However, Jack had once again gained the upper hand and struck at a crucial moment. Nelson was caught off-guard and fell off his platform.

"Well, so much for that." Nelson shook his head.

"Jack wins and advances! Nelson is out!"

Charlotte and Janine were facing each other. Charlotte growled and gripped her weapon. She knew this was going to be a rough fight, but no impossible.

"The final fight of round two is Charlotte vs. Janine." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Charlotte acted first and jabbed at Janine, hoping to push her off. However, Janine saw the attack coming and lifted her defense, blocking the blow. Charlotte tried several times to break through Janine's defenses with several more jabs, but they did little to harm the cavewoman.

Janine, in the meantime, was counting the number of times Charlotte was jabbing her in her head and the time in between strikes. As soon as Charlotte took a second to recover from her multiple strikes, Janine lashed out and jabbed the German woman in the face, forcing her backwards and knocking her off the platform.

"How did you just do that?!" Charlotte demanded.

"I waited for you to tire yourself out." Janine shrugged.

"Janine wins and advances! Charlotte is out!"

The final two standing were Jack and Janine. The koopa was clearly outmatched in terms of strength, but Jack knew he could weave his way around Janine if given the chance.

"The final fight is Jack vs. Janine. The winner of this will win the challenge." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Jack and Janine stood still, as if waiting for the other to act first. However, once they saw that they weren't getting anywhere, both koopa and cavewoman swung at once, clashing their poles against each other. The two tried again, producing the same results. Another swing later and they had clashed a third time.

"Oh, come on! Drop your defenses already!" Jack shouted.

"You think I'd listen to you when it's just the two of us left?" Janine asked with a smirk. "I think not."

Jack growled and jabbed at Janine's face. He managed to catch Janine off-guard and made her stagger backwards, but the cavewoman kept her balance and narrowed her eyes at Jack. Janine approached Jack and jabbed at him, forcing him back a step. Janine jabbed him a couple more times, managing to force the koopa off the platform and onto the sand ten feet below.

"Jack is out! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Janine wins Reward!"

Janine stood tall on her platform and cheered proudly. The others looked disappointed that they had lost, but clapped for Janine anyway.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning the challenge, Janine. You've won the trip to the tropical part of the island." SSBFreak said. "However, we know it'll be pretty lonely over there, so you can choose to bring one person with you to spend it with."

"Oiler." Janine said with no hesitation.

"Great." Oiler said with a smile as he walked over.

"And who will you be sending to Exile Island?" SSBFreak asked.

"Charlotte."

"Okay. Janine and Oiler will be going on their Reward trip while Charlotte will be spending the day on Exile Island. They will meet up with the rest of you at the Immunity Challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak explained. "Until then, you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_Janine won Reward, not that anyone's really surprised because of her strength. What really ticks me off is that I had once again gotten EXTREMELY close to winning the challenge." Jack moaned. "I was actually beginning to taste victory for a moment! Am I just cursed with horrible challenge luck or something?"_

"I can't believe how close that was." Jack sighed. "I almost beat her back there."

"You're always so close at these challenges." Molly said. "You just can't find the extra motivation needed to win them?"

"Every time I lose, I get more determined. How do I keep finishing second?" Jack asked himself.

"At least it was just a Reward Challenge, right?" Molly asked. "I mean, tomorrow's challenge is the one you want to worry about, right?"

"I know, but it still frustrates me."

"_Jack is definitely getting close with all of the challenges so far, but he still hasn't won one yet." Molly mused. "It makes me think that if things get down to it, Jack could go on an Immunity run once all of the major threats have been eliminated. I may have to take him out before then. I don't know when, but I'll have to come up with something soon…"_

Anita, Ruth and Nelson sat around the fire pit, each looking down.

"That challenge wasn't suited for ANY of us." Ruth rolled her eyes.

"I know. The only reason I made it to the second round was because I beat you." Nelson replied.

"I j-just hope we're on equal ground for Immunity." Anita added.

"_Physical challenges aren't the strong points for any of us. We know that with people like Charlotte and Janine still in the game, we're not going to win those types of challenges." Nelson pointed out. "All we can do is hope we come across a challenge with numbers or memory. Those challenges will be the ones that give us the advantage."_

"I'm worried about Charlotte on Exile Island." Ruth said.

"Because she m-may find the idol?" Anita asked.

"Yes. She's the last person I want to see with the idol right now." Ruth shook her head.

"_If Charlotte finds the idol, I know she won't tell us. She'll use it to eliminate me and I want to make sure she wastes it if she has it." Ruth explained. "This means we'd have to target someone else first, because then Charlotte would waste the idol when she wouldn't even need it."_

"I guess the only thing we can do is hope she doesn't find it." Nelson said.

**(Exile Island)**

"_This is perfect. Roscoe didn't play the idol before he went, so that meant he didn't find it here. Now I've got a better chance at finding the idol and getting the advantage." Charlotte said with a smirk. "I need the idol, so if I were to get it, it would help me turn the game around in my favour."_

Charlotte scratched her head as she read the clue that she was given. "Hmm…This gives me an idea on where the idol could possibly be, but…It's not very descriptive." She said to herself. "Well, I may as well get started…"

Charlotte wandered around the area she suspected the idol to be and started searching, doing most of the search via digging in the sand. She did this for quite a while and ended up with nothing after a couple of hours.

"That's odd. I must not be looking in the right place." Charlotte noted as she inspected her clue again. "I wish this clue was a little more clear…"

"_The clues get clearer as Exile Island is visited more times, so the second time still isn't very clear." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "If I want to find the idol, I either need to dig up the entire area I think the idol is or leave empty-handed and hope I get sent back here next time. At least I still know that the idol is still buried here, though."_

Charlotte sat underneath the small shelter that had been set up and started thinking about the game.

"We've been getting a lot of physical challenges lately. Maybe Nelson isn't as big a threat as Molly thinks…" Charlotte mused. "I may have better luck voting out a physical threat."

"_Because I couldn't find the idol, I decided to think over the game and what to do when I get back." Charlotte folded her arms. "Molly wants Nelson to go, but the more I think about, the more I realize he isn't a physical threat and we'd be able to vote him out whenever we wanted. I'd probably have a better shot at going further in the game by voting out a physical threat first."_

"Maybe I should relay this information to Molly when I get back. This may be the better alternative…" Charlotte mused as she sat back.

**(Tropical Location)**

Janine and Oiler looked around, seeing the tropical trees, white sand and crystal-clear water everywhere on the beach they had been dropped off at. The scenery was indeed a far sight greater than their camp.

"Now THIS is more like it." Janine smiled. "This reminds me of back home."

"Back home? In prehistoric times?" Oiler asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Of course. No pollution back then, right?"

"Oh, yeah."

"_Janine won Reward and brought me along to this nice tropical spot. However, what confuses me is that she had no hesitation in sending Charlotte to Exile Island." Oiler pointed out. "I'm definitely curious as to her reasoning back there, so now that we're alone out here, I'd get that chance."_

"Janine, I'm wondering why you sent Charlotte to Exile Island." Oiler said.

"She wanted to go because she wanted to find the idol." Janine replied.

Oiler's eyes widened. "You know that she's liable to backstab you as soon as she has it, right?" He checked.

"I know, but I'd much rather be on her good side than her bad side." Janine said. "I don't THINK she'd find it this time, but at least I can say that I tried to help her when she gets back."

"_I know what I'm doing. Charlotte would probably use the idol to get rid of Ruth or Anita if she found it. This leaves Oiler and I safe for another couple of rounds." Janine pointed out. "As soon as the idol is used, Charlotte's back into danger territory and she'd need us more than ever. I don't think she'd be willing to stab us in the back by then."_

"I admit that it's a good strategy, but I still don't think teaming up with Charlotte will be a good idea." Oiler insisted.

"It's better than being her enemy." Janine reasoned.

"I suppose so."

"Hey, while we're here. I'm gonna go for a swim." Janine said. "You coming in as well?"

"I may. I think I'll just enjoy the scenery for a bit." Oiler shrugged.

"Suit yourself."

As Janine went off into the water, Oiler sat down, looking at the sunset and lost in thought.

"_Janine's the strongest person left and she knows it. She also knows that she'd be a sitting duck if it weren't for all the people going after each other." Oiler said. "That's gotten the both of us this far, but what's going to happen once the dust settles around the other alliances? They may try to gang up on us, and I don't want that to happen…"_

Night rolled in. Everyone, no matter where they were, went to bed in preparation for the challenge the following day, knowing that they needed to be ready for it.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 27)**

"_We're having an Immunity Challenge today, and our current target is Molly. This is good, because I'm starting to get the same vibes about her as Shamus did." Nelson said. "If I can take her out even though almost everyone else is a bigger physical threat, then that could help me survive in the game because I doubt I'm a target except from Molly herself."_

"So the goal is to keep Molly from winning Immunity." Ruth said. "It really shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"That's right if it's physical, but I think we're due for a mental challenge by now." Nelson reasoned. "We're had a number of strength challenges already."

"So that gives us an advantage, but it also gives her one." Ruth frowned.

Anita, whom had been silent up until now, lifted a finger. "W-What if it's a elimination-style game?" She asked. "W-We could take her out of the c-challenge as long as we do things r-right."

"That's probably our biggest chance." Nelson nodded.

"_N-Nelson thinks that Molly's the b-biggest threat. I d-don't see it, but he's h-helping us vote off the o-other tribe." Anita shrugged. "Molly DOES m-make me nervous for s-some reason, but I d-don't think she's a real threat. B-But that's not what we're worried about. W-We just want to k-keep her from winning the challenge."_

"Looks like we've got treemail." Ruth said as she pulled a letter from the treemail box.

"Time for Immunity." Nelson said. "Let's show this to Jack and Molly and get going, then."

After calling over the other two players, Ruth opened up the note and read it. "It's asking how much we know about the people from the game." She said.

"Oh! A memory challenge!" Molly stated. "Finally! Something we have a chance at!"

"I'm just curious as to what type of trivia we'll have." Jack noted. "I mean, are they about people still in the game or people that have already been eliminated?"

"_In all honesty, I REALLY hope the challenge will be about those that have already been eliminated. I don't know much about the remaining Eleda players to get a right answer off them." Jack pointed out. "I think I could do well in a challenge like this. I just need to make sure all of the other smart players get eliminated from the challenge first…"_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Survivors from camp emerged from the jungle and walked into a clearing. They all stepped onto their mat and waited for the challenge to begin.

"Before we start, let's bring in Janine and Oiler, whom have just returned from their Reward, and Charlotte, whom is back from Exile Island." SSBFreak said.

Everyone watched as the cavewoman, crash dummy and German woman walked in from opposite angles, joining the others and completing the line of eight.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will test your knowledge of people whom have been eliminated from the game." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a table with eight stations sitting nearby. "I will give you a quote, and you guys have to tell me which of the ten people eliminated from the game said it. If you buzz in and get the question right, then you can eliminate someone else. However, if you get the question WRONG, you eliminate yourself. There are seven questions, enough to eliminate all but one of you, and whoever is left standing will win Immunity and be safe from elimination tonight."

Everyone looked at each other. The physically weaker players looked much more confident now that they knew the challenge wasn't physical.

"If you'll all get into position, we can start." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

The eight remaining players were lined up, hands on their buzzers and ready to answer whatever question they were given.

"Okay, For Immunity, here's the first question." SSBFreak said. "Who said 'All I need to do when everything is said and done is vote for who I think deserves it most'?"

Charlotte instantly buzzed in. "Charlotte." SSBFreak acknowledged.

"It had to have been Vikki." Charlotte replied.

"You're correct." SSBFreak nodded. "Who would you like to eliminate?"

"Nelson."

The nerd sighed and left the table. "That was fast." He said to himself.

"Okay. Nelson is out. Here's the next question." SSBFreak said. "Who said 'The more strong people we have on our team, the better chances we have at winning a challenge'?"

People paused, but Ruth eventually buzzed in. "Ruth." SSBFreak said.

"I think it was Buzz." Ruth replied.

"Correct. It was indeed Buzz." SSBFreak replied. "Who's eliminated?"

"Molly."

"W-What? Really?" Molly asked before reluctantly leaving the table.

"Okay. Molly's out. Here's the third question." SSBFreak said. "Who said 'I wanna stay, so I need to make sure that I appeal to the others'?"

Oiler blinked a few times, then buzzed in. SSBFreak acknowledged him. "Uh…Mason?" He asked.

"Wrong. It was Ginny." SSBFreak said. "Oiler, you've eliminated yourself."

"That was Ginny?" Jack asked in surprise as Oiler left the table. "She was actually capable of a rational thought?"

"Here's the next question." SSBFreak said, seemingly ignoring Jack. "Who said 'I dunno what she was dreaming about, but I'm almost afraid to ask her'?"

Everyone instantly knew that it had to be someone on Eleda, but not who. Eventually, Anita buzzed in. "Yes, Anita?" SSBFreak asked.

"Uh…Was it Krash?" Anita asked.

"No. It was Lynn." SSBFreak replied. "You've eliminated yourself."

"Man. T-That sucks." Anita lamented as she left the table.

"Okay. Here's the fifth question." SSBFreak announced. "Who said 'This would make everyone see things my way and get rid of him'?"

Jack instantly buzzed in and smirked. "That was totally Mason!" He said. "Probably when he was trying to get me eliminated!"

"You're correct." SSBFreak nodded. "Who're you eliminating?"

"Janine."

"Really?" Janine asked as she left the table regardless.

"Janine is now out. It's now down to Charlotte, Jack and Ruth. Here's the sixth question." SSBFreak announced. "Who said 'She's probably trying to keep the vote to her liking by recruiting the others'?"

The three remaining people paused in thought before one of them buzzed in. "Jack." SSBFreak said.

"Was it Shamus?" Jack asked.

"It was. You're correct again." SSBFreak nodded. "Who're you eliminating?"

"Charlotte."

"So close." Charlotte sighed as she left the table.

"Charlotte is out, leaving us with Jack and Ruth. Whoever answers this final question right will win Immunity. Here it is." SSBFreak said. "Who said 'All I've been hearing lately is who's getting targeted and who to align with'?"

The final two paused for a moment before a buzzer was pressed. "Ruth." SSBFreak acknowledged.

"Krash?" Ruth asked.

"You are…Correct! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak said. "Ruth wins Immunity!"

Ruth put down her buzzer and cheered. Anita looked just as excited as Jack hung his head in annoyance.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Ruth." SSBFreak said as he placed the Immunity headdress on Ruth's head. "You have a one-in-seven chance at winning the game."

"I appreciate it." Ruth said with a smile.

SSBFreak turned to the others. "However, I'll be seeing all of you tonight at Tribal Council, where one of you will be voted out of the game." SSBFreak explained. "I'll give you the remainder of the day to make your decision, so you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_When you reach the merge, a physically-weak player shouldn't need to worry about being picked off." Ruth said. "However, I needed this Immunity win more than ever because I know Charlotte would be gunning for me. I'm just glad it was a trivia challenge and I had a good idea on who said what in my tribe."_

"_So…Freaking…CLOSE!! Am I just cursed or something?! How many challenges do I have to come in second in before I can actually WIN one?!" An aggravated Jack asked. "I've lost to Nelson, Oiler, Charlotte, Janine and now Ruth! Well, I suppose I just have to worry about the future challenges now. Molly wants to vote off Nelson, so I'll go along with it and hope I do better in the next challenge."_

"You still want to vote out Nelson, right?" Jack asked.

Molly nodded. "He's a mental threat. You saw how Charlotte took him out of the challenge first, right?" She asked.

"Yeah. You're right. We've got the numbers, right?"

"Definitely." Molly nodded.

"Great. I'll go see if I can get a couple more votes." Jack said as he wandered off.

Molly watched him go, then turned as Charlotte approached, having just talked to Janine and Oiler. "You want something, Charlotte?" She asked.

"_I did a lot of thinking on Exile, and the challenge just let me come to my conclusions. Jack is a much-bigger threat than Nelson is." Charlotte said. "Jack has come in second in all of the individual challenges so far. This tells me that if we take out all of the threats, he could easily win several challenges in a row and we won't get the chance to get rid of him."_

"Y-You want to vote off Jack?" Molly asked.

"Molly, you need to consider this. Jack's a more-physical threat and he's proven it by his skills in challenges." Charlotte said. "No matter what type of challenge we were in, he always finished second, and always to a different person. Doesn't that tell you how diversified his skills are?"

"He's…He's too good of a player." Molly said in realization.

"Bingo." Charlotte nodded. "I just relayed the message to Janine and Oiler, but are you willing to eliminate Jack while you still have the chance?"

Molly paused, then looked up at Charlotte. "We may not get another chance."

"_Charlotte thinks she's tricking me into voting out my ally. I have full intention of voting Jack out, but the only question is when I'll do it." Molly shrugged before smirking. "I need to do it before he ends up on an Immunity run or else I won't get his vote. At least if I get rid of Jack now, I'll have votes with Charlotte and the others, so that just means more votes for me."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The eight remaining players walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding their seats (which were diminishing with each visit), everyone sat down, waiting for the council to commence.

"Before we begin, let's bring in the members of our jury:" SSBFreak said. "Roscoe and Mason, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Everyone watched as Roscoe walked into Tribal Council. Mason followed him, sporting shorter hair (but a still-untouched beard) a black hoodie sweater and a pair of jeans. The two jury members sat down on the jury bench.

"They are just here to observe the outcome. You are not to address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak explained. "Anita, the last time I saw you, you all kicked Mason off. How did you feel afterward?"

"I-I felt great. H-He was really annoying everyone with h-his stories of survival, so eliminating h-him after t-telling him off was a great feeling to me." Anita said, flashing a slight smile.

"You didn't feel guilty for voting him off?"

"N-No. He had it coming. H-He needed to be taken d-down a few pegs, anyway."

"I feel so loved." Mason muttered, folding his arms. Roscoe chuckled.

"Jack, same question. You and Mason had been at each other's throats for a while before then, so how did you feel afterwards?" SSBFreak asked.

"Never better. I considered Mason more of an annoyance anyway." Jack shrugged. "He was the one who was starting everything and I didn't even CONSIDER it a rivalry."

"He deserved everything." Mason growled.

"Get over yourself." Roscoe rolled his eyes.

"You've been doing fairly well in the challenges, but you haven't won any yet." SSBFreak added. "How does that feel?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. It annoys me to no end at how I keep coming so close to winning, and yet fall short." Jack sighed. "I just hope that I can get lucky in future challenges."

"Ruth, you won Immunity on the other hand." SSBFreak said. "Do you think you needed it?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Ruth nodded. "This late in the game, no one's safe. We've all been targeted at least once by now."

"So you're saying that the vote could go anywhere tonight?"

"No. By now we've all selected out targets." Ruth responded. "Half the problem is coming up with the numbers needed for it."

"At least we won't be having another chaotic vote." Roscoe muttered.

"Janine, you're the strongest person left. Are you at risk?" SSBFreak asked.

"Not tonight. I've heard a few names being thrown around before Tribal Council and my name wasn't among them." Janine replied.

"You want to tell me those names?"

"No. That would probably make me a target."

"Smart girl." Roscoe smirked.

"Nelson, who's getting eliminated tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"Like Janine said, it's between two of us. I know that much." Nelson replied. "As for how the vote's going to go, I'm just voting for who I think is the biggest threat."

"Doesn't that mean Janine?" Mason asked.

"I don't think he means PHYSICAL threat." Roscoe replied, giving a smirk.

"Well, I think that's enough questions. Ruth, you have Immunity. Will you be giving it to someone?" SSBFreak asked.

"No. I'm keeping it this time."

"With that, Ruth is safe and cannot be voted out. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Janine, you're up."

Janine stood up and left the hut, walking to the voting table. The cavewoman scribbled a name down and placed it into the urn, shaking her head.

Nelson wrote a name down and turned his ballot around, revealing Molly's name. "I'm beginning to think that Shamus was onto something." He admitted.

Ruth, wearing the headdress that was half as tall as she was, approached the voting table. The elderly Raposa wrote a name down and placed it into the urn, leaving the table.

Molly approached the table and wrote a name down. "This is all strategy. Believe me." She said as she placed her ballot into the jar and left.

Jack sighed and wrote a name down before showing it to the camera. "I don't have anything against ya, man. This is to solidify Molly's vote." He said, having voted for Nelson.

Oiler scratched his head, still unsure as to who he'd be voting for. Deciding not to second-guess himself, the crash dummy wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Anita came up to the table next. Taking a breath, the blonde girl wrote a name down and placed it into the jar. Anita turned and quickly left to return to the hut.

Charlotte gave a smirk and wrote a name down, showing it to the camera. "You may not see it now, but you've an Immunity threat." She explained, showing Jack's name.

After everyone had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately. If anyone has the Hidden Immunity Idol, now would be the time to play it." He explained. People were expecting Charlotte to come forward, but she remained quiet. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote, Nelson." Nelson bit his lip and swallowed.

"Molly." Molly remained quiet.

"Molly." She looked calm on the outside, but Molly was screaming on the inside.

"…Jack." This caught Jack by surprise. He tilted his head in confusion.

"Jack. That's two votes for Jack and Molly, and one for Nelson." On the jury bench, Roscoe looked visibly confused while Mason smirked.

"Molly." Molly held her breath, trying to remain calm.

"Jack." Jack lifted his shades. "What the crap?!" He asked. "Final vote, third member of the jury and eleventh person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Jack. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Jack sat in stunned silence before standing up. "Thanks for the backstab, guys." He said as he grabbed his torch and approached the host.

"Jack, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Jack's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Whatever." Jack growled as he stalked out of the hut.

Once Jack was gone, SSBFreak looked at the remaining seven players. "Jack is gone, revealing that no one is safe, whether you win Immunity Challenges or not." SSBFreak explained. "There are seven of you left. It's really getting down to the wire, but we need a few more eliminations before we can have our finale. Some of you won't make it that far, but it's up to you to decide which of you DOES make it." He added. "You can all head back to camp."

Everyone stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Nelson brought up the rear, looking surprisingly angry but not wanting to show anyone. Jack was the one person on Opito he didn't have anything against, and now he had clearly been betrayed by the person he had trusted. Nelson's suspicions about Molly were getting bigger…

"_I can NOT believe that just happened. Did Molly seriously just sell me out?! What was she thinking?! Now she's a sitting duck!" Jack said. "Well, all things aside, I enjoyed the experience. I have to give props to Marty for actually WINNING this thing last season, because it's a lot harder than I thought it was…"_

**Voting History:**

**Jack – Charlotte, Janine, Oiler and Molly**

**Molly – Anita, Nelson and Ruth**

**Nelson – Jack**

Author's Note: I know people may be wondering why Jack outlasted Roscoe when he didn't have any chance at winning (since his best friend won last time). Jack was the only one that could get Mason rambling enough to set Anita off when he did. After Mason left, Jack became unimportant.


	12. Days 28 to 30

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_Jack was voted out, and considering that Anita, Ruth and I all voted for Molly, that means that Molly also voted him out." Nelson folded his arms, looking cross. "I now have a strong feeling that Molly's not exactly what she seems. Am I going to come forward about this? No. No one's going to believe me. I need to think of a way to expose Molly without actually saying anything…"_

"M-Molly, I thought you were friends with Jack." Anita said. "Why did you vote him out?"

Molly looked down. "Charlotte planted ideas into my head and they got the better of me." She admitted. "She said that Jack was a potential challenge threat because he was always coming in second no matter what the challenge was."

"So this is Charlotte's doing." Ruth sighed. "That's strange. I thought she'd be targeting me."

"M-Maybe she had a change of heart?" Anita suggested.

"I doubt it."

"_I knew I'd be under suspicion for voting out Jack, so I made sure everyone else knew it was Charlotte's idea." Molly said with a crooked grin. "I'll pretend that Charlotte's on my good side, so when she eventually gets herself eliminated, I'll have her vote as well. I just need to lay low and make sure no one suspects that voting out Jack was my plan anyway."_

"_Molly v-voted out Jack. We're not sure w-why, but she did it. I-I can tell that this made N-Nelson mad, because he actually l-liked Jack." Anita rubbed the back of her head. "I j-just hope he doesn't do something he'll r-regret, but then again, he d-doesn't seem the t-type to do something extremely drastic…Then again, n-neither does Molly…"_

Oiler lifted an eyebrow and looked at Janine. "You sure voting out Jack was the best idea? I mean, he hadn't won any challenges yet." He reminded.

"He came in second every time though. No matter what challenge it was, he still came in second." Janine replied. "That tells me that he's got diversified skills."

"Actually, that tells CHARLOTTE that." Oiler pointed out. "She told us the plan, remember?"

"Hey, as long as it's not targeting us, I'm fine with it."

"_Am I seriously the only one that found voting off Jack to be a little shifty? I mean, he was a reasonable challenge threat, but was he seriously THAT big of a threat?" Oiler asked. "There are physical, mental and jury threats still in the game, all of which are bigger threats than Jack. I just hope this doesn't come back to bite us for doing it…"_

The seven remaining players decided to go to bed, knowing they'd have a long day ahead of them.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 28)**

Ruth paced back and forth in front of a stone Anita was sitting on. Nelson leaned against a nearby tree, arms folded.

"_We're at a severe disadvantage. Charlotte managed to get the remaining members of the final seven to vote out Jack, and now she outnumbers us once again." Ruth pointed out, eyes narrowed. "We need a plan to get the better of her and survive long enough to get the numbers, but half the problem is actually finding a way around her defenses…"_

"How are we going to do this?" Ruth asked. "Charlotte has the majority and I know she'll take us out before she focuses on her alliance."

"The Hidden Immunity Idol?" Anita suggested.

"Charlotte was the last one to go to Exile Island." Nelson replied. "She may have it with her. We can't get her to vote out Molly, can we?"

"After she just secured her vote and she needs the advantage? Not a chance." Ruth shook her head.

"How about getting Janine a-and Oiler?" Anita asked.

"Janine's been wanting to get on Charlotte's good side ever since we voted out Krash." Ruth sighed. "This is bad."

"_We're going to need all the luck we can get here. The other four appear to be in an alliance and we need to make sure that we can somehow find a way to outlast them." Nelson sighed. "We must have run through the possibilities multiple times and we still haven't found a way that can give us the advantage for the next Tribal Council."_

"The only thing I can think of is hoping that Charlotte didn't find the Hidden Immunity Idol." Nelson said.

"It's a long shot, but it's our best bet." Ruth nodded. "So if one of us wins the next Reward Challenge, we'll send someone else to Exile Island."

"And hope that the idol's s-still there." Anita hung her head.

"_I n-never thought being in Survivor would put me in such a c-complicated position. I'm not s-strong, and y-yet I could go before the s-strong players." Anita muttered. "I w-want to stay, so I g-going to try my hardest to h-help get through this. I-I'm not going to sit through this q-quietly."_

Meanwhile, Molly was talking with Charlotte about the vote from the previous night.

"Okay. I helped vote out Jack. You think you can help me vote off Nelson next?" Molly asked. "I still say he's too big of a mental threat."

"I understand, and don't worry. You gave me help in the vote, so I'll help you. Nelson is next." Charlotte assured.

"_I risked a lot by voting out Jack. He was still in the dark, but Nelson may be on to me as I speak. I need Nelson out ASAP." Molly said, arms folded. "He's the only one I'm worried about, because if no one else has even any suspicion about me by now, they're not going to get any at all."_

"_Voting out Jack was crucial, because he could have gotten to be a big threat. I'm just glad Molly saw things my way." Charlotte said. "Now I owe her one and she wants Nelson eliminated. I'm fine with that, so I'll vote with her. Nelson IS a mental threat, after all. I'm sure I'll have no problem getting Janine and Oiler to help."_

"We're voting out Nelson next." Charlotte explained to Janine and Oiler.

Janine looked at Oiler. "He IS a pretty big mental threat." She noted.

"I suppose so." Oiler nodded. "But is he the biggest threat here at the moment?"

"Voting out Nelson will secure us Molly's vote." Charlotte explained. "That's all I need."

"So this is just to get an extra vote?" Janine asked.

"_I don't understand why Charlotte wants Molly's vote so badly. I mean, if we wanted, we could easily pick off the Opito players because now we outnumber them five to two." Janine pointed out. "If Charlotte really wanted, she could blindside both Nelson and Molly and have an all-Eleda final five, but then again, no one really knows what she thinks."_

"_This is almost too easy. We've been doing nothing but vote off Opito players since we made the merge." Oiler muttered. "That's good and all, but I still don't think things should be this easy. I'm almost waiting for someone to jump out of the bushes and say that we're being tricked…"_

Meanwhile, the minority alliance was still trying to come up with a decent plan they could use to take advantage of the other alliance. So far, they hadn't been having much luck. By now, Nelson was starting to draw in the sand again.

Ruth sat down on a rock and held her head. "How could this happen?" She asked. "I thought we had this game in the bag."

"Charlotte's s-sneaky." Anita said. "S-She probably wants numbers."

"I know. That's what worries me even more because it'll be harder to cement a vote from one of the others."

Nelson continued to draw. "How do you think we'd be able to get some of the others to vote with us?" He asked. "Maybe convince Molly that Janine is too strong a player?"

"H-How about getting Janine and Oiler to vote out Charlotte?" Anita suggested. "W-We all know she c-can stab everyone her in the back to w-win."

"Like I said, Janine's been wanting to get on Charlotte's good side and Oiler's been afraid to vote for a different person as her." Ruth shook her head.

"Why's that?" Nelson asked.

"Apparently, he voted for Charlotte when Roscoe was eliminated." Ruth replied before looking at what Nelson was drawing. "What are you drawing now?"

"Vigo the Carpathian on the day of his multiple executions." Nelson replied.

"Uh…Multiple?" Anita asked.

"He was stabbed, hung, shot, impaled, poisoned, beheaded, burned at the stake, drawn and quartered before he finally died." Nelson replied. Anita's eyes snapped open.

"_I draw from memory, and it's usually when I feel stressed about something. All of my drawings are usually memories that anger me, mainly because it lets my frustration out." Nelson said. "I never fought the spirits like Staypuft, Gozer and Vigo, but I know enough about them from the others to have a burning hatred for all of them."_

"_N-Nelson's drawings scare me." Anita squeaked._

"Our best bet would be to either convince Molly to vote off someone, or to get Charlotte to realize that all of the threats are in her alliance." Ruth explained. "Nelson, I know that you want to target Molly, but I'm not sure if that's the best option right now."

"I know. Right now, we just need a way to survive." Nelson nodded.

"_I need to be the voice of reason here. Nelson wants Molly out, but there's no way we're going to be able to convince the others that she's a bigger threat than one of us." Ruth explained. "We need to get someone on the other alliance to turn against the others, but we have no idea who to go for…"_

Meanwhile, Charlotte had gone off to talk to Molly. This left Janine and Oiler alone again. "I don't like this, Janine." Oiler told the cavewoman. "I almost think we need to get rid of Charlotte first."

"Why would we do that? If we vote Charlotte out now, we lose a jury vote." Janine pointed out. "Besides, if we're on her good side, she won't betray us."

"We don't know that." Oiler cautioned. "You know Charlotte. She's always trying to find the best way to help herself further in the game."

"So?"

"So who do you think Charlotte would take to the finals? Someone everyone likes or someone that hasn't had any impact on the game?" Oiler asked.

Janine blinked a couple of times. "You think Charlotte may try to take Molly to the finals?" She asked.

"I wouldn't put it past her." Oiler shook his head.

"_I'm not taking any chances here. Things have been going too smoothly for too long and I know something's going to happen that will change all of that." Oiler said. "Survivor is never this easy. You're never given Immunity on a silver platter. I need to help Janine realize this before either of us regret it."_

Night eventually rolled in. The seven remaining players decided to go to sleep, knowing that there would be a challenge the following day.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 29)**

Molly emerged from the shelter and looked around at the diminishing number of people around the camp. Things had definitely gotten a little quieter with Mason gone, and now that Jack was gone as well things were even more peaceful in her mind.

"_We're having a challenge today. Probably Reward. I haven't been on a Reward trip yet, so I hope that it's not physical. It'll give me a chance to have some alone time." Molly admitted. "The more time I have to myself, the more I can think about the game. I need an endgame plan, but I know that I'm getting close to it by now."_

Molly walked over to Charlotte. "Where are the others?" She asked.

"Getting treemail." Charlotte replied. "The others are trying their hand at fishing."

"Good luck with that. Oiler's the only one who's caught anything." Molly chuckled. "I'm just double-checking that we ARE voting for Nelson, right?"

"Don't worry. You don't need to keep reminding me." Charlotte said.

"I know. I just want to make sure you're with me."

"_Molly's getting persistent with her lobbying to vote out Nelson. In all honesty, it's starting to put me off." Charlotte folded her arms. "I've told her numerous times that she has my vote. She's almost seeming like her life is depending on whether or not Nelson is eliminated at the next Tribal Council."_

"_I'm persistent because I want to make sure Charlotte knows Nelson is a threat, or at least a big enough threat in her mind." Molly said. "I may have to embellish some of his mental abilities to make him seem like a bigger threat, but it's to make sure he gets the boot and I keep my identity a secret."_

"We've got treemail!" Janine announced as she and Oiler came back into camp. The others quickly gathered around.

"W-What type of challenge is it?" Anita asked.

"It just says 'How much do you know about your home'?" Janine replied.

"Another trivia challenge. That's strange…" Charlotte lifted an eyebrow.

"We may as well head out. I'm curious to see how this will differ from our last trivia challenge." Ruth admitted.

"_We literally just had a trivia challenge, so having a normal one again so soon after it seems strange to us." Ruth folded her arms. "I think the producers have something planned this time, but I'm not sure what it is…"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The seven finalists walked into a clearing in the jungle and walked over to their mat. Stepping on, everyone waited for the host to start talking.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will test your knowledge of your homeworld in a unique trivia challenge." SSBFreak explained. The finalists suddenly saw two benches behind the host, one behind the other and the front-most one lit up with seven green panels. "However, the object isn't just to answer the question right. It's to match your answer with someone else's answer…"

"Hey, wait! This is the guest challenge, isn't it?!" Nelson asked excitedly.

"You are indeed right, Nelson." SSBFreak nodded. "Come on out, guys!"

Seven new figures emerged from the jungle and the finalists recognized them as people from their home nodes. Leading the pack was a short, muscled caveman with green hair, wearing nothing but a loincloth. "For starters, here's one of the title characters from Joe & Mac, Joe." SSBFreak said.

"Joe! You made it!" Janine greeted.

"You do good job, Janine." Joe greeted back with a smirk.

Next was a tall man with dark hair, wearing a gray fedora and black waistcoat. "Next, we have Trilby from the Chzo Mythos series." SSBFreak explained.

"T-Trilby!" Anita said in awe.

Following next was a short mole wearing a plaid vest and a pair of glasses. "Here's Bottles the Mole from Banjo-Kazooie." SSBFreak explained.

Molly pretended to look excited. "O-Oh! Isn't this a surprise!" She said, suddenly very relieved it was either of the two main characters from her series.

Following the mole was another tall man. This one was dressed in a yellow military uniform, complete with a red beret. "Then we have Rolento from Street Fighter." SSBFreak said.

Charlotte's eyes widened as she quickly stood at attention, giving a salute. "S-Sir!" She greeted.

Rolento smirked. "At ease, Charlotte."

The next guest was another crash dummy that looked similar to Oiler, only he was overweight and was wearing a purple suit as opposed to red. "Representing the node of the Incredible Crash Dummies, we brought in Spare Tire." SSBFreak said.

"Hey, man! How's it going?" Oiler greeted his portly friend.

Following the line was another Raposa, this one wearing a white shirt, blue vest and a red scarf. There was a set of blue goggles resting on his head. "And then we've brought in Jowee from Drawn to Life." SSBFreak explained.

Ruth couldn't help but chuckle. "My. They actually got Mari to let you come alone?" She asked.

Finally, the seventh guest was a floating, green ghost slightly resembling an onion. A lone tooth was sticking up from his lower lip. "And finally, here's-"

Nelson didn't wait for the host to finished and quickly spread his arms. "Slimer! Little buddy!" He said excitedly. "Come here and give Uncle Nelson a great, big hug!!"

Slimer broke into a big grin. "Yay!" He cheered and flew straight into Nelson's open arms, knocking the nerd to the ground. Slimer latched onto Nelson and planted a huge kiss on his face before flying back towards the guests.

Nelson stood up, now covered with slime. He grinned. "I missed this slime so much." He said happily.

SSBFreak stared dumbfounded. "Uh…Right. Anyway, the goal of this challenge is to match your answer with your respective guest. The guests will each have a section of the front bench, and the light with signify their health. Whoever makes a perfect match will get to choose an opponent to hurt, until only one is left with any health. All of the guests have three hits they can take, and if they lose all of them, they're out. The winner of this challenge will win Reward, which is a trip to a resort on the island for the day."

Everyone looked intent on starting the challenge, knowing that the guests would be much-more involved than they thought they would be.

"If you'll all get into position, we can start."

**(Later…)**

The seven guests were sitting in a line on the front bench, each with the green panel underneath them. The seven finalists sat on the back bench. Everyone had a tablet and pencil and prepared to write their answers down.

"Okay, for Reward, here's the first question." SSBFreak said. "What is your relationship with your series' fancharacter?"

Everyone quickly wrote down their answers, although Slimer appeared to be taking his time and was struggling to write. Eventually, everyone finished.

"Okay. Will the contestants show their tablets first?"

The seven contestants showed their answers. Ruth had written down 'Neighbors', Nelson and Oiler had written down 'Friends', Anita had wrote 'Friend of a friend', Molly wrote down 'Acquaintances', Charlotte wrote 'Mentor' and Janine had written 'Guardian'.

"Okay. Now will the guests show their answers?"

The seven guests turned their ballots around, some looking pleased.

"Jowee says that he and Ruth are friends, Spare Tire says that he and Oiler are mechanics and Slimer says that he and Nelson are 'Buddies'. Close enough. I'll accept it." SSBFreak said. "Trilby said he was a friend of Anita's friend, Bottles says that he's neighbors with Molly…"

"All Jinjos live in the same village as my family." Bottles piped up.

"…Rolento says that Charlotte is his student and Joe says that Janine is a member of his village. Not quite correct." SSBFreak continued. "Slimer, Trilby and Rolento got it right. Who are you guys hurting?"

"Joe." Rolento said.

"Rolento." Trilby said with a smirk.

"Uh…Jowee!" Slimer piped up.

"Okay. Joe, Rolento and Jowee all have a strike against them while everyone else is untouched. Here's the next question." SSBFreak said. "Who does your fancharacter hate the most?"

Once again, everyone wrote their answers down (Slimer again looking like he was struggling). When told to show their answers, the contestants showed theirs first. Ruth wrote 'Crazy Barks', Oiler wrote 'Junkman', Nelson wrote 'Gozer', Anita had shakily written 'Cabadath', Molly wrote 'Gruntilda', Charlotte wrote 'Dan Hibiki' and Janine had written 'Perverted cavemen'.

"Okay. Will the guests show their answers?"

Jowee had written 'Wilfre', Spare Tire had written 'Junkman', Slimer had written 'Peck', Trilby smirked as he showed 'Cabadath', Bottles wrote 'Minjos', Rolento wrote 'Cody' and Joe had also written 'Other cavemen'.

"Slimer, who's Peck?" SSBFreak asked.

"Walter Peck. I can't believe I forgot about him." Nelson moaned, slapping himself in the forehead.

"Uh…Trilby, I take it Cabadath is the spirit that…" SSBFreak said uneasily.

"Sent Anita through that meat grinder? Yes." Trilby nodded, looking serious.

"Well, Spare Tire, Trilby and Joe are the only ones right." SSBFreak said. "Who's getting hurt?"

"Slimer." Spare Tire replied.

"Mole." Joe added.

Trilby smirked again. "Rolento."

Rolento narrowed his eyes. "So that's how you want to play." The German man muttered.

"Slimer and Bottles each get their first strike, while Rolento gets his second. Spare Tire and Trilby are the only ones untouched. Now here's the next question, this one more for the contestants." SSBFreak said. "Who is the best friend of your guest?"

Everyone once again wrote down their answers, the guests going much faster this time.

"Okay. Contestants, reveal your answers."

Ruth wrote down 'Mari', Oiler wrote down 'Slick', Nelson wrote 'Venkman' (with a smirk), Anita wrote 'Jim Fowler', Molly wrote 'Bear and bird', Charlotte wrote 'Sodom' and Janine wrote 'Mac'.

"Now will the guests do the same?"

Jowee was smiling as he showed 'Mari', Spare Tire wrote 'Daryl', Slimer wrote 'Petey' (which was counted as a match because the guy's name was Peter Venkman), Trilby wrote 'Jim', Bottles wrote 'Mumbo', Rolento wrote 'Sodom' and Joe had obviously written 'Mac'.

"Okay. Almost everyone has a match this time. Jowee, Slimer, Trilby, Rolento and Joe are all correct." SSBFreak announced. "Who's getting hurt?"

"Spare Tire." Jowee announced.

"Mole guy!" Slimer said with a grin.

"Rolento." Trilby said.

Rolento narrowed his eyes. "Trilby."

"Crash dummy." Joe finished.

"Okay. Trilby gets his first hit, Spare Tire gets two and Bottles gets his second hit. Rolento, on the other hand, is out. Here's the next question." SSBFreak said as Rolento got up and left the table. "What does your fancharacter do in his or her spare time?"

Everyone quickly wrote down their answers, although some appeared to hesitate before writing.

"Contestants?"

Ruth had written 'Reading', Oiler had written 'Test driving', Nelson wrote 'Draw', Anita wrote 'Write music', Molly wrote 'Practice magic', while Janine had written 'Train'.

"Okay. Guests?"

Jowee had also written 'Read', Spare Tire wrote 'Fix vehicles', Slimer wrote 'Draw', Trilby and Bottles wrote '???' while Joe wrote 'Train'.

"Looks like Jowee, Slimer and Joe got it right." SSBFreak said. "Guys?"

"Spare Tire." Jowee explained.

"Caveman!" Slimer said.

"Mole." Joe finished.

"Joe has taken his second hit while Spare Tire and Bottles are both out. Jowee, Slimer and Trilby have two strikes left. Here's the next question." SSBFreak said as Spare Tire and Bottles left the bench. "What is your guest's favourite food?"

It didn't take long (even for Slimer) for everyone to write their answers down. They all looked confident.

The contestants showed their answers first. Ruth wrote 'Banya', Nelson wrote 'Everything', Anita wrote 'Chinese' and Janine wrote 'Steak'.

The guests showed their answers. Jowee wrote 'Banya', Slimer wrote 'ANYTHING!!', Trilby wrote 'Chinese food' and Joe had wrote 'Steak'.

"Everyone remaining got it right. Guys, who are you hurting?"

"Slimer." Jowee pointed out.

"Jowee!" Slimer countered.

"Joe." Trilby replied.

"Ghost." Joe finished.

"Jowee has taken his second hit while Slimer and Joe are both out. Here's where we stand. Jowee has one hit left and Trilby has two. If Trilby gets this next question right, he automatically wins. Here's the next question." SSBFreak said as Slimer and Joe left. "What is your fancharacter's dream job?"

The four remaining people quickly wrote their answers down, hoping for the best. Ruth had written 'Retired' and Anita wrote 'Paranormal detective'.

The two remaining guests turned their tablets around. Jowee had also written 'Retired', but Trilby had written 'Paranormal detective'.

"That's it! We have a winner! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Trilby and Anita win Reward!"

"Sweet." Trilby said with a smirk as Anita cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward together, you guys. You two will be spending the day at the resort." SSBFreak said to Anita and Trilby. "However, you can choose one pair to come with you to enjoy the Reward with them. Who will it be?"

"R-Ruth. Ruth and Jowee." Anita said without hesitation.

The two Raposa smiled as they walked over to join the two winners.

"And which pair will you be sending to Exile Island?"

"Nelson and Slimer."

"Okay. Anita, Trilby, Ruth and Jowee will be going on the Reward, while Nelson and Slimer will be spending the day on Exile Island." SSBFreak said. "They'll join the rest of you at the challenge tomorrow, so until then, you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"I'm impressed, Molly. I didn't think a Jinjo was capable of survival skills without the use of their magic." Bottles chuckled. "You're really doing the Jinjos proud with how well you've been doing."

Molly gave a nervous laugh. "What can I say? I got lucky and made a few friends that could help me." She replied.

"Any of them still here?"

"I-I'm on my own now."

"_UGH!! Of all the people, why did they send that nosy mole to be my guest?! Out of all of those goodie-goodie characters, I would have taken Mumbo Jumbo or someone like that over the mole!" Molly said before pausing. "On the other hand, I guess I'm lucky that the bear and bird didn't come. They have the strange ability to tell whether or not a Jinjo is really a Minjo…"_

Meanwhile, Charlotte was sitting down on a rock as she listened to her mentor.

"Sir, I'm sorry you lost the challenge." Charlotte apologized.

"I was not interested in the Reward, Charlotte." Rolento replied as he looked around. "I was more interested in seeing how your living accommodations have been since you started."

"If it makes any difference, this tribe is in better condition than the one I started out on." Charlotte replied.

"Even with all of the blue scenery?"

"_Charlotte's my best protégé. I've taught her everything I know because I intend on her taking over Mad Gear if I am unable to do it." Rolento stated. "She's an amazing strategist, which apparently has done her well out here. This type of game is something I feel people like me would excel in."_

"_It is an honour to have my superior here. Now I feel I have someone I can relay my strategies to." Charlotte said with a smirk. "Rolento has much more experience than I do, so his input on any potential strategy I second-guess myself on is greatly appreciated."_

As Charlotte and Rolento talked with each other, the remaining four people in the camp stood aside in a group conversation.

"You guys are mechanics?" Janine asked. "How does that work if you keep losing your limbs?"

"Pretty well, actually." Oiler shrugged. "Just as long as we don't drop any limbs into flammable liquids, we're fine."

"Oh! That reminds me!" Spare Tire said as he ripped his left hand off and held it out. "I think this is your hand, Oiler. We accidentally got them mixed up just before you left to come here."

Oiler blinked a couple of times, then lit up. "Oh, yeah! I was wondering why my hand's been feeling funny all this time!" He said as he ripped his own left hand off and swapped with Spare Tire. "Thanks, man! I didn't even realize this was your hand!"

"Quite alright, Oiler." Spare Tire chuckled as he shoved his returned hand into its socket.

_Janine sat in front of the camera, looking weirded out. "It took long enough for me to get used to Oiler doing that. Seeing TWO people doing that reminds me of why that creeped me out in the first place." She said._

"Ah! Much better!" Oiler said. "So what about you, Joe? What do you do?"

"Me protect village. Me and Mac guardians." Joe, by far the shortest of the four, explained.

"He's right. They've protected the village for as long as I can remember." Janine chuckled.

"Janine live in village, so me and Mac protect her too." Joe continued. "One time, pervert cavemen break into village and steal all women. They drag Janine off by hair."

"J-Joe, I think that's enough." Janine chuckled, quickly shushing the caveman. Oiler couldn't help but chuckle.

"_Now that's a mental image. Janine, the strongest and toughest person here, getting dragged off by a caveman half as tall as her?" Oiler asked. "The cavemen there must be even stronger than Janine is to be capable of something like that."_

"_It true. Me and Mac travel across land to save women and find Janine tied to pole with T-Rex approaching." Joe said. "We no know why, but incident get Janine to get haircut. It look funny short, because she always have long hair."_

**(Exile Island)**

"You ready to help me find something, little buddy?" Nelson asked as he pulled the clue from the treemail box.

"Yay! Treasure hunt!" Slimer cheered as he hovered over Nelson's shoulder in an attempt to read the clue.

"_It's great to have Slimer out here. I don't know why, but being around him brings out the fun-loving kid in me and I forget about everything that's stressing me out." Nelson said. "I honestly don't know why Venkman hates the poor guy. But now that Slimer's out here, he can help me find the Hidden Immunity Idol, if it's even here."_

"Let's see…The clue's a little more clear by now." Nelson noted.

"Why that?" Slimer asked.

"Two other people have come here before. Every time someone comes here, the clues get more descriptive." Nelson replied as he came to a stop over a spot near the beach, underneath a lone palm tree. "Hey, Slimer? You wanna go see if there's something down there?"

Slimer grinned and rolled up imaginary sleeves before diving straight into the ground. He came up seconds later with a shiny necklace in his green hand. "Found it!!" He cheered.

"Sweet! You did it, buddy!" Nelson said as he took the necklace and inspected it, showing that it had numerous gems littering it, including a large, red gem directly in the middle.

"_Okay. I found the idol, but I'm not stopping there. I don't want anyone to know that I have the idol, and if someone comes here and can't find it, they'll know I have it." Nelson explained. "That's when I got this idea. I'm going to have some fun with this now that I've got the idol, and I know Slimer will be eager to help me."_

"Hey, Slimer? You wanna do some arts and crafts for a bit?" Nelson asked.

"Yay! Me-sa likey crafts!" Slimer cheered. "What ya need?"

"I need you to get me…Seven small, round rocks." Nelson instructed as he grabbed some sticks off the ground. "You remember what I taught you about counting, right?"

"Yeah! Me-sa get seven!" Slimer said as he took off and rocketed towards the beach.

_Nelson smirked as he held a familiar pouch of blue powder up in front of the camera. "I never thought I'd say this, but 'Thank you, Ginny'." He said._

**(Resort)**

"_T-Trilby and I won Reward, which is an amazing feeling. Just knowing t-that you won a challenge is great in itself." Anita said with a smile. "And I brought R-Ruth and her young friend a-along for o-obvious reasons."_

"This is a sweet resort." Jowee said as he looked around. "Too bad you guys don't live in a place like this."

"That kinda defeats the purpose of Survivor, kid." Trilby chuckled.

"But it's still unusual to see a resort like this around the island we've been living on." Ruth pointed out. "From first glance, the island looked deserted."

"_Eh, I know the resort would take away from the Survivor experience, but it doesn't make it any less awesome." Jowee said. "I need to remember to grab some cool seashells while we're here. I promised Mari and Heather I'd get them some souvenirs…"_

"Do you guys have a cool camp?" Jowee asked. "What's it like?"

"It's nothing much to write home about, actually." Ruth shrugged. "We've got a long beach, a small island and a bridge connecting it."

"A-And some of the trees have been painted blue." Anita added.

"Wait. Blue?! How the rapo is that even possible?!" Jowee asked.

Anita didn't answer him and looked nervously at Trilby. "Uh…Trilby, I have to ask. Did…Did you guys…F-Find Jim yet?" She asked hopefully.

Trilby sighed. "Sorry, kid. Not yet." He said. Anita sighed sadly.

"_Jim Fowler was a kid I met while trapped inside Dafoe Manor. As it turns out, he's Anita best friend and was inside the school with her when Cabadath struck." Trilby folded his arms. "Jim was apparently caught in a fire at the school, but we can't seem to find his body. That gives us hope that he got out alive, but we still can't find any trace of him."_

Suddenly, everyone heard a crashing noise coming from another room. Curiously, the four people went out into the hallway and found themselves in a bar area and all of the pre-merge boots had been gathered there. Buzz was laying on the floor, rubbing his head, as Lynn and Krash stood over him with unamused expressions, a broken bottle in Lynn's hand. Vikki and Shamus were at a table, apparently having a drinking contest (and the strange thing? Vikki was WINNING). Urtha and Brick (a bandage wrapped around his head) were sitting at a table, watching Lynn berating Buzz as Urtha gave a smirk. Finally, Ginny was in the process of using a spare pouch of blue powder to turn a table blue.

"Who ARE those people?" Jowee asked.

"Those are the people voted out before the merge. They sent us to the Loser's Resort for the day." Ruth explained.

"Sweet. A bar. I could use a drink." Trilby said as he left the group and walked over to the bar.

"_I had mixed reactions about seeing the pre-merge boots again. On one hand, I got to apologize to Krash and had a chance to catch up with Lynn, but on the other hand, Anita and I had to deal with Buzz." Ruth rolled her eyes. "It's a good thing Trilby was there or else things would have gotten ugly for Buzz the instant he would have opened his mouth about Anita still being in the game."_

Night eventually rolled in and everyone, guests included, went to bed to prepare themselves for the following challenge the next day.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 30)**

"_It's time for the next Immunity Challenge. Basically, the only thing we want to do is make sure Nelson doesn't win Immunity." Janine pointed out. "The gist of it is that he's going to be the next target and we need to get rid of him before his gets to be too much of a threat. Shouldn't pose too much of a problem."_

"Man. That was the most-uncomfortable sleep I've ever had." Spare Tire moaned as he stepped out of the shelter. "I'm glad I'm only out here for a day."

"It wasn't that bad. I actually enjoyed it." Bottles shrugged.

"Me sleep that way all of time. Nothing out of ordinary." Joe added.

"Well, you guys are a mole and a caveman." Spare Tire rolled his eyes.

"So you guys will be helping us for the Immunity Challenge?" Oiler asked. "You wouldn't happen to know what the challenge is, would you?"

"We weren't told." Rolento replied simply.

"Not that it matters. We just need to make sure the nerd and the green ghost don't win." Charlotte said.

"I'm fine with that."

"_Immunity would be a great help to me right now. I know who our target is, but right now a little added assurance wouldn't hurt." Charlotte admitted. "I'll still try to keep Nelson from winning, but don't expect me to just give it up to someone on my alliance."_

"_I feel like I should be cautious, especially with who we have in our alliance. Janine doesn't seem to realize the danger that we're getting ourselves into." Oiler pointed out. "I think everyone else is also underestimating the knowhow and skills of the other alliance, because if there's one thing I know, it's never to underestimate someone you don't think much of. That's how Junkman was created…"_

"We have treemail." Molly announced as she and Bottles came over with a letter.

"Oh. Good. The challenge." Rolento said. "I suppose it's time to meet up with the others?"

"Yes, sir." Charlotte nodded. "We meet up with them when we get there."

"It's asking how well we are at giving or following directions." Molly explained.

"That sounds right up our alley." Charlotte said with a smirk.

"You never know." Molly shrugged.

"_I've been a target multiple times, twice since we made the merge. I think I need Immunity more than anyone right now." Molly muttered. "I hope this challenge will be something I can benefit in, especially with someone I don't particularly LIKE in the first place…"_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The four players from camp emerged from the jungle with their guests. They all stepped onto their mat, side by side with each other, as they waited for the challenge to start.

"Before we begin the challenge, let's bring back Anita, Trilby, Ruth and Jowee, whom are returning from their Reward trip, and the duo of Nelson and Slimer from Exile Island." SSBFreak said.

The remaining six people walked onto the scene and joined the ground, bringing the total number of people to fourteen.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will see how coordinated you are with your respective guests." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw that the clearing was littered with balls of different colours, as well as a target range with one lone bullseye. "One will be blindfolded and will be carrying the other team member piggyback. The person being carried must shout out directions. The object is to get the blindfolded person to find two balls of the colour that is declared to you, and then direct the blindfolded person to the marker at the large bullseye, which represents a throwing distance. If the blindfolded person hits the bullseye at all, that contestant wins Immunity and will be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

The contestants looked at their guests, as if wondering who would be doing the carrying and who would be riding.

"If you'll all decide who's going to be running around blindfolded, we can start." SSBFreak explained.

**(Later…)**

Interestingly, almost all of the guests had chosen to carry, as they were stronger than their respective teammate. The only obvious exception was Slimer, whom was gripping a blindfolded Nelson's shoulders. Even Joe had opted to carry Janine (whom was twice as tall as him), and the sight of the two looked almost comical.

"Why is Joe carrying you, Janine?" SSBFreak asked.

"Believe it or not, Joe is much stronger than me." Janine assured.

"Well, if you're all ready, we'll start. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The seven teams took off running, the carriers trying to listen to the directions their partner was giving and nothing else.

"Remember, Slimer! We're looking for balls that are bright green! The same colour as you!" Nelson instructed as he blindly moved forward. "Where do I turn to go towards the first one?"

Slimer, gripping Nelson's shoulder, looking around and spotted a lime green ball. "Left!" He directed.

"Go right, Jowee." Ruth instructed. "The first red ball is just over there."

"Got it. Just tell me when I'm going too far, Ruth." Jowee replied.

Ruth was proving to be a good director, as she was leading Jowee directly to the first ball. However, Jowee was struggling to make sure he wasn't hearing any other orders at the same time, mistaking them for Ruth's.

"Where's the purple ball, Oiler?" Spare Tire asked. "Am I relatively close?"

"Go slightly left." Oiler instructed. "But hold still a second. Janine and Joe are rushing in the way."

Spare Tire paused for a moment, allowing Joe to race past, easily carrying the taller Janine.

"Keep going straight, Joe! You're running right towards it!" Janine said.

"Tell me when arrive." Joe explained. "I stop to pick up."

Anita watched as Joe continued to run around easily. "Man. H-He's going fast…" She said.

"Anita, keep your eyes on the challenge." Trilby ordered. "Where's the white ball?"

"Uh…To the right s-slightly." Anita instructed. "It's a ways a-ahead of us, but we're getting t-there."

"Okay. Just remember to keep directing me."

"Are you sure there's a yellow ball around here, Molly?" Bottles asked as he felt around.

"It's still a ways ahead. Keep going straight." Molly instructed.

"How far?"

"Uh…Fifteen feet, maybe?" Molly asked.

Bottles stumbled forward, feeling around for the ball. Molly inwardly sighed, cursing her luck for getting Bottles as a partner.

Charlotte scanned the playing field for an orange ball and set her sights on one. "Sir, it's to your right." She instructed.

"Good." Rolento said as he turned to his right. "Am I going straight towards it?" He asked.

"Veer left just a tiny bit." Charlotte replied.

The German man quickly followed Charlotte's directions, knowing that she had the experience needed to trust her.

Meanwhile, Joe was still following Janine's instructions, running as he did. Janine looked over Joe's shoulder as he ran and saw that she was approach her target: A dark green ball. "There it is, Joe! Stop!" She ordered.

Joe quickly came to a halt, taking a couple of steps before he finally stopped himself. Following Janine's directions as to exactly where the ball was, Joe was easily able to find the ball and picked it up.

"Joe has his first ball! He and Janine take the lead!" SSBFreak announced.

"Charlotte, am I getting close?" Rolento asked. "I don't intend to lose."

"Neither do I, sir. Turn and inch to the right and keep going straight." Charlotte instructed.

Suddenly, a blind Nelson ran in front of Rolento, running blindly even with Slimer's directions.

"Left!" Slimer directed. Nelson promptly turned, going in a different direction. "Right!"

"Slimer, you're confusing me!" Nelson said. "Just tell me where to go!"

"You-sa goin' too fast!" Slimer insisted.

Meanwhile, Bottles was still feeling around for the first ball Molly had spotted. Molly gave a hopeless sigh.

"You're still nowhere near it, Bottles. Just go forward for a bit and I'll tell you when to stop." Molly said, trying to keep her patience.

"Okay. I'll try." Bottles said as he stumbled forward, as if careful not to trip on anything.

Molly sighed. Bottles was really ruining her chances at winning. Janine already scored her first point and she was still nowhere near her first ball. Molly looked over at the duo of Oiler and Spare Tire and saw that they weren't doing as well either, so at least she wasn't alone. She knew this was going to take a while…

"T-The ball's right by your right hand, Trilby! Stop!" Anita directed.

Trilby stopped moving and quickly felt around until her had a ball in his hands. "Is this one white?" He asked.

"N-No. That one's green. The white one's j-just beside it." Anita explained.

Trilby quickly found the right ball and picked it up, scoring his first point.

"Trilby and Anita have their first point!" SSBFreak announced.

Anita looked ahead and her eyes widened. "T-Trilby, step to the right!" She said.

Trilby quickly leapt to the right just as Nelson blindly ran past, right where he had been standing. Slimer was still shouting out directions and he suddenly noticed that Nelson had just passed a bright green ball (the one Trilby first grabbed).

"Stop! Ya missed it!" Slimer said. Nelson quickly came to an abrupt halt.

"I ran past it?" Nelson asked.

"Issa couple steps back." Slimer replied.

Meanwhile, Charlotte had managed to direct Rolento over to their first orange ball. Rolento slowly crouched down and felt around for it.

"It's just to the right of your right hand, sir." Charlotte explained.

Rolento quickly had the ball in his hands. "Good. We're still in this." He explained.

"Rolento and Charlotte have their first ball! It's a three-way tie for first!" SSBFreak announced.

"Where second green ball, Janine?" Joe asked.

"Turn to your left. I think I see it." Janine explained. "After that, go straight until I tell you to."

"Nothing in way?"

"Nope. Nothing. Keep going."

Jowee continued to walk around, following Ruth's directions. From the looks of things, he was keeping up fairly well without looking tired.

"Your stamina is impressive, Jowee. I thought you would have collapsed by now." Ruth said, lifting an eyebrow.

"I give Heather piggybacks all the time. You're not that much heavier than she is." Jowee shrugged. "Uh…You see the red ball anywhere?"

"You're dangerously close to it. A few more steps and you'll be over it." Ruth instructed.

Jowee did what he was told and eventually stumbled upon the first red ball. Jowee quickly scooped it up.

"Jowee and Ruth have their first ball!" SSBFreak announced.

"Come on, Spare Tire. It's just ahead. You don't need to go so slow." Oiler instructed.

"I don't want to trip on anything." Spare Tire replied. "If I fall, we could BOTH fall to pieces."

"You may have a point." Oiler sighed.

"Okay, Joe! You're almost there!" Janine said as Joe approached the second dark green ball. "Just a couple more steps."

Joe continued moving and stopped when Janine told him to. "Which hand? Left or right?" He asked.

"Right. It's by your foot." Janine explained.

Joe easily found the ball Janine was talking about and scooped it up, scoring his team's second point.

"Joe has his second ball! Janine can now direct him towards the target range!" SSBFreak said.

"Okay! Turn around!" Janine instructed. "The target's behind us!"

"They have their second point, Bottles! We need to get to the first ball if we want to win!" Molly insisted. "Can you move faster?"

"I may miss it then." Bottles replied.

"It's…It's still at least fifteen feet away!" Molly replied, starting to lose her patience with her partner.

Nelson backed up a couple more steps, and was now standing directly over the lime green ball Slimer pointed out.

"Youssa over it!" Slimer said.

"Right below me?" Nelson asked as he bent over and scooped up the ball.

"Nelson has his first ball! He and Slimer are on the board!" SSBFreak announced.

Charlotte had managed to direct Rolento over to the second red ball. "Okay. Feel around for it, sir. It should be around your left hand." She said.

Rolento crouched low and felt around. He managed to find a ball. "Is this it, Charlotte?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." Charlotte nodded as Rolento picked up the ball. "Janine isn't that far ahead of us. We can still catch up."

"Charlotte and Rolento have their second point! It's a race to the finish!"

Meanwhile, Anita managed to spot the second white ball and was directing Trilby over to it. Getting Trilby to stop for a second (allowing Nelson to run past again), Anita got Trilby over to the ball without much of a problem.

"I-It's right in front of you, Trilby." Anita explained. "It s-should be under your right hand."

"Got it." Trilby said with a smirk as he picked up the second white ball.

"Anita and Trilby have their second point as well!" SSBFreak announced.

Both duos of Charlotte & Rolento and Anita & Trilby tried hard to get over to the target line first, but Janine & Joe managed to get their first due to their head start on the others.

"I stand on line?" Joe asked.

Janine looked down. "Yes. You're just behind the line." She explained.

"How far is target?" The caveman asked.

"About ten feet and it's pretty big." Janine explained. "Just throw a ball ahead and throw it hard."

Joe did as he was told and hurled one of the green balls he had collected with all his might, striking the large target. It wasn't close to a bullseye, but all that mattered was that it hit.

"That does it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Joe has hit the target and that means that Janine wins Immunity!"

Everyone took their blindfolds off as the contestants got down from being carried. Janine cheered as she leapt off Joe's back.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations, Janine. You've won Immunity and are safe." SSBFreak explained as he gave Janine the Immunity headdress. "You have a one-in-six chance at winning the game."

"Right where it belongs." Janine said proudly.

SSBFreak turned to the other six players. "However, I will be seeing all of your at Tribal Council tonight, where once again the number of remaining players will decrease from seven to six." He explained. "I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decision, but for now you can all head back to camp. Guests, I'm afraid this is where we must part. If you'll come with me, I'll take you to the helicopter to go back to civilization."

The contestants and guests shared their goodbyes (Janine giving Joe a kiss on the cheek for helping her win Immunity) before splitting. As the guests walked away with the host, the seven remaining contestants went back into the jungle.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"Well, what're w-we going to do?" Anita asked. "The voting will be 4-3 N-Nelson unless we manage to do something that c-can change the game."

"Like I said, I doubt we can get Janine and Oiler to help us." Ruth folded her arms. "You have any ideas, Nelson?"

"I just had an idea, and I think we may be able to get Charlotte's vote with us if it works." Nelson said with a smirk.

"We're listening." Ruth said, returning the smirk.

"_Janine won Immunity again. This means that I'm probably getting targeted, but thankfully, I have the Immunity Idol with me." Nelson explained. "However, I think I'll try and save it for later, so I'm not going to give up in swaying someone's vote. I just need to run a few things past Ruth and Anita."_

"Hey, Charlotte? Can I talk to you?" Ruth asked.

"Yes? What is it?" Charlotte asked. "You don't need to worry, though. Nelson is the target tonight."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Do you want to help us vote out Oiler?" Ruth asked.

"Wait. Why him?"

"Charlotte, he and Janine are a strong alliance." Ruth explained. "If it's a final two and they make it to the final three with you, who are either of them going to take to the finals?"

Charlotte paused and looked deep in thought.

"_I never thought about it that way. Indeed, Janine and Oiler are a strong alliance. They've been together since we started." Charlotte reminded. "They would indeed rather go to the finals together and boot me if it came to it. Perhaps I need to weaken their alliance before it gets too late…"_

Oiler looked at Janine as they sat near the fire pit with Molly. "We're voting Nelson, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. He's too smart for the game." Janine replied.

"I appreciate the help, guys. I've been trying to get him voted out for a while." Molly explained. "I just think he's too strong of a player."

"Don't worry, Molly. You've got our votes." Janine assured.

"I just hope things go well." Oiler scratched his head.

"_I still don't think this is a good idea. Voting out Nelson may seem like a good idea now, but I really don't think he's THAT big of a threat." Oiler explained. "I just feel that we're not going after the right target. Unfortunately, I know that if I vote for who I think deserves to go, I'm not going to have the numbers…"_

**(Tribal Council)**

The seven remaining players entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Everyone walked over to their seats and sat down, waiting for the host to begin the council.

"Before we begin, let's bring in the members of our jury." SSBFreak explained. "Roscoe, Mason and Jack, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Roscoe and Mason entered the hut, Jack following them. He was without his shades and was wearing a blue sweater with spikes littering its back, complete with a couple of spiked bracelets. The three jury members walked over to the bench and sat down.

"They are just here to observe the outcome. You will not address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak explained. "Nelson, it seemed that Jack was the only remaining Opito player you didn't have anything against. Why?"

"Because he seemed sorry for voting out my allies pre-merge and leaving me to fend for myself." Nelson replied. "None of the others seemed to care."

"I voted because they needed to be eliminated." Mason said.

"You keep telling yourself that." Roscoe smirked.

"Were you shocked to see him eliminated like that?" SSBFreak continued.

"Of course. I mean, he wasn't really targeted at all until that night." Nelson nodded.

"I targeted him." Mason muttered.

"Like he said, I wasn't really targeted." Jack replied. Roscoe laughed.

"Janine, you won Immunity and you're the strongest person left." SSBFreak said. "Do you think this will make you a target?"

"Probably, but the way things have been going, I'm definitely expecting everyone else to be just as much in danger as I am." Janine explained.

"This HAS been a pretty messed-up season." Jack shook his head.

"Oiler, how was the guest visit? Were you surprised to see your friend show up?" SSBFreak asked.

"We all were. Seeing some familiar faces was a refreshing change of pace and a reminder to us all that we had people cheering for us back home." Oiler explained. "It was great that they helped us out in the challenges as well. It gives us a chance to show them that the show's harder than it seems."

"I wonder who would have come for me if I made it that far." Jack pondered.

"Do you HAVE friends?" Mason asked with a smirk. He was promptly sucker-punched by both Jack and Roscoe.

"Molly, how do you think the voting's going to go?" SSBFreak asked.

"By now, we need to focus on taking out the mental and strategic threats." Molly explained. "I think this time Nelson will be going."

"Do you see the voting go any other way?"

"I don't think so."

"Crap." Jack muttered.

"Well, I think that's enough questions. Janine, you have Immunity. Are you giving it to anyone?" SSBFreak asked.

"No. I'm keeping it."

"With that, Janine is safe and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Ruth, you're up."

Ruth stood up and left the hut before approaching the voting table. The elderly Raposa wrote a name down and placed her ballot into the jar.

Janine walked up to the table and wrote a name down. The cavewoman double-checked her vote and placed it into the urn before leaving the table.

Nelson wrote a name down and turned his ballot around, showing Oiler's name. "Janine's the bigger threat, but she has Immunity." He said before placing the ballot into the urn.

Anita scribbled a name onto a ballot and folded it. The blonde girl quietly placed her ballot into the urn and left the table as quickly as she came.

Oiler sighed and wrote a name down before showing it to the camera. "I'm only doing this because I'll be outnumbered otherwise." He said, having voted for Nelson.

Molly gave a smirk and wrote a name down. "Time to put an end to this once and for all." She said as she placed her ballot into the jar.

Charlotte appeared to be in thought as she approached the table. Finally making up her mind, the German girl wrote a name down and shoved her ballot into the urn.

Once all seven finalists had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and came back with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately. If anyone has the Hidden Immunity Idol, now's the time to play it." Nelson bit his lip, but remained silent in the end. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote, Nelson." Nelson took a deep breath.

"Nelson." Nelson wondered if he should have played the idol…

"…Oiler." Oiler's eyes widened, as did Janine's.

"Oiler. That's two votes for Nelson and two for Oiler." Oiler looked at Nelson with a confused expression.

"Nelson." Nelson knew that his game was depending on this vote…

"Oiler." Oiler looked extremely nervous by now. Both he and Nelson looked at each other. "Final vote, fourth member of the jury and twelfth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Oiler. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Oiler sighed as he stood up, looking at Janine's shocked expression. "Don't trust anyone, Janine." He warned as he grabbed his torch and brought it to the host.

"Oiler, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Oiler's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I'd better not see you out next, Janine." Oiler called back as he left the hut.

Once Oiler was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining six. "Oiler is gone, proving that no vote is guaranteed until the votes are final. Even if you have the numbers, you still aren't safe." SSBFreak explained. "There are six of you left and things are getting down to the wire. In the end, we still need a few more members to finish the jury, so for now, you can all head back to camp."

The remaining six players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Janine brought up the rear, looking betrayed and furious at the same time. Someone in her alliance had sold her out, and Oiler had just paid for it. Janine made a mental note to remind herself to follow Oiler's request: No one was to be trusted…

"_It sucks that I had to leave the way I did, but I made it way further than I ever thought I could. The fact that I made it to the guest visit was an added bonus." Oiler shrugged. "I just hope that my elimination hasn't doomed Janine, because now I know that everything's going to be an uphill battle for her…"_

**Voting History:**

**Oiler – Anita, Charlotte, Nelson and Ruth**

**Nelson – Janine, Molly and Oiler**

Author's Note: With Oiler, I wanted a gimmick castaway to last a while, much like Sandy being an over-the-top person to make it far. However, as I was writing, I found Oiler's antics harder to write for because I tried to keep them fresh. Oiler was always supposed to go at this point, so I'm glad I booted him before I ran out of ideas completely.


	13. Days 31 to 33

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

Janine wasn't a happy camper when the remaining six players returned to camp. Arms folded and eyes narrowed, Janine was quick to go over to the fire pit and sit down alone, brooding over what had just happened at Tribal Council.

"_I've been trying to get on Charlotte's good side for as long as I can remember, and even after all that, she still betrays me." Janine said. "And what's even worse? Oiler was the one to pay for my mistake of trusting Charlotte to take us further into the game. That Tribal Council was an eye-opener for me. It makes me realize that no one here can be trusted."_

Meanwhile, the trio of Anita, Nelson and Ruth were looking pretty pleased with themselves, considering that they had just overpowered a majority alliance.

"I can't b-believe that actually worked." Anita said. "We…We evened the playing field!"

"Even still, it's a tie. We need to think of a way to swing the vote in our favour." Ruth pointed out.

"_We managed to get Charlotte to vote with us and we got rid of Oiler. We would have preferred Janine to go, but she had Immunity." Ruth said proudly. "However, we can't let this dissuade us, because all we did was even the playing field. To get an advantage, we need to get someone to vote with us again. But the biggest question is who that will be…"_

"_I didn't play my Immunity Idol, so I was REALLY counting on Charlotte to come through for us. Thankfully, she did." Nelson admitted. "Ruth and Anita don't even know about it, though. To make sure no secret is spilled, I'm not telling or showing anyone until I decide to play it. Hopefully, I'll know when I need it most…"_

Molly, in the meantime, approached Charlotte, looking disappointed. "But…I thought we were targeting Nelson. You TOLD me we were targeting Nelson." Molly pointed out.

"I know, but when you think about it, Janine and Oiler are a strong alliance and they would take each other to the end over any of us." Charlotte reminded. "I hope you understand my decision to delay giving Nelson the boot."

"Y-Yes…I understand." Molly said, looking down.

"_I understand that Charlotte has no idea what I will do to her if my secret gets out. I've been patient up until now, and if I can't get Charlotte to vote the way I want, then what good is she?" Molly growled. "Okay, you know what? After I get rid of Nelson, I'm going after Charlotte next. After making me put up with the risk of having my secret found out for this long, she deserves it."_

Everyone eventually went to bed, deciding to find some answers in the morning.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 31)**

Anita gave a sigh as she looked around the camp. Nelson was trying to fish (Oiler, the best fisher of the bunch, was gone, so they had to try and catch fish like him), Charlotte was trying to start a fire while Molly watched, Ruth was coming back from the treemail box empty-handed and Janine was brooding her herself, leaning against a tree.

"_I c-can't believe it's come this far. I…I'm in the final six. The d-dwindling numbers at camp are proof that we've all made it this far." Anita said, a smile on her face. "I…I never thought I was capable of doing this well, but here I am. I know that when this is all over, everyone back home is going to be s-surprised."_

Ruth came walking over and Anita saw her. "A-Any treemail?" She asked.

"No. We must not be having a challenge today." Ruth gave a shrug. "Not that I mind. It's always good to have an extra day off. It gives a little more time to put a potential idea together."

Anita watched as Ruth sat down on a rock, then sat down herself. "Y-You have any ideas?" She asked. "I-I don't think Janine would be willing to j-join us after we voted out her friend."

"Probably not. Nelson still seems keen on voting out Molly, but I'm not sure if she's the biggest threat." Ruth scratched her head.

"_Molly's a non-threat physically. We can pretty much take her out whenever we want because there's no way she'd win at a physical challenge." Ruth explained. "That leaves our other targets as Charlotte or Janine. Charlotte voted with us to get rid of Oiler, so maybe she'll help us vote out Janine as well…"_

"What about Nelson?" Anita asked.

"We've helped him along this far. I'm sure he won't have a problem helping us out with taking out a physical threat." Ruth assured.

"I don't know. He's s-seemed pretty determined…"

Meanwhile, Charlotte had just finished making a fire. The German girl sat back and admired her work before glancing at Molly, whom was sitting across from her. It was clear that Molly had something on her mind and Charlotte knew what it was.

"_Molly's upset that the vote didn't go the way she thought it would. She considers Nelson the biggest threat, which is understandable because of his mental capacity." Charlotte admitted. "However, I made my choice for a reason. There was a strong alliance that needed to be separated and I took the chance when I had it."_

"I know you're still upset that I didn't vote with you, but I just saw a bigger threat that needed to be taken care of first." Charlotte pointed out.

"How do you know it was a bigger threat? I…I still think Nelson was a bigger threat than Janine and Oiler combined." Molly insisted.

"Okay. If it helps, I'll make sure I vote for Nelson this time." Charlotte pointed out.

"Thank you. I…I hope you're serious this time."

"_Charlotte signed her death warrant by voting off Oiler and not Nelson. Now, instead of having a majority like we should have, we have a tie." Molly moaned. "As I see it, the only chance for us to avoid a tiebreaker is to get someone on the other alliance to vote with us as well. However, I don't see that happening since the others are so tightly-knit."_

"Can…Can we get someone else to vote with us? I…I don't want a tiebreaker." Molly said.

"Yeah. We'll have to try and get Janine back on our side." Charlotte said.

"Janine's ON my side." Molly reminded. "Uh…If I remember correctly, YOU voted her friend off."

"Also true." Charlotte gave a shrug.

"_In all honesty, getting Janine to vote with me is the least of my worries. I'm wondering how we'd get Ruth and Anita to vote out Nelson after they've been helping him for the last number of days." Charlotte mused, folding her arms. "This will take a lot of thinking, because if we're going to avoid a tiebreaker, we need a very good plan."_

Meanwhile, Janine was walking through camp, head low and in thought. No one dared approach her because they knew she'd still be mad about the results from the previous night.

"_Oiler told me not to trust anyone out here. While I agree with that, I still need an alliance to get me further into the game." Janine explained. "I can't go to the alliance between Anita, Ruth and Nelson because I'd just be the fourth wheel and get kicked off right after Charlotte and Molly. Unfortunately, that brings me right back to the woman that voted Oiler off in the first place. I may not like it, but Charlotte's probably my best chance right now."_

"Charlotte, can we talk?" Janine asked as she walked over to where Charlotte was sitting. Molly had since gone off (probably to do another confessional).

"What is it?"

"Just to let you know, I'm still in on the alliance. You've lost a lot of my respect for voting off my friend, but I know I'm a sitting duck if I join the other alliance." Janine replied.

"I understand. It's good to see that you've still got your head on straight, though." Charlotte said with a smirk. "If you had joined the other alliance, they would easily vote you out."

"I know. That' why I've literally got no other option at this point."

"_Janine's a good player, but she also knows what her chances of survival are no matter where. All I can say is that Molly and I offer a lower risk of getting booted than the other alliance." Charlotte said. "This is good for a start. Now we've tied up the voting, but we still need that edge to get a slight advantage. Every little bit helps."_

"_I wouldn't be willingly joining Charlotte now if I wasn't extremely dependant on this. I need the votes without getting picked off if it came down to it." Janine pointed out. "And since I know the others will eliminate me as soon as they get the chance, I only really have one choice and that's to go back to Charlotte."_

Meanwhile, Nelson was still trying to fish, although he seemed more preoccupied with his ponderings than trying to catch something.

"How am I going to do this?…" Nelson pondered. "I can't get the others to vote out Molly simply because I think she's suspicious. I have to think of some way that can possibly make her seem like a threat…"

Anita suddenly approached Nelson from the side. The blonde girl looked at Nelson's blank face, then at the fishing rod he was holding which was thrashing about with a fish on the other side.

"Uh…You've caught a fish, Nelson." Anita pointed out.

"Mmm-hmm?" Was Nelson's reply.

"…It looks big…" Anita said.

"It does, doesn't it?"

Anita blinked. "Janine just took her top off." She tested.

"Yeah, that'll happen."

"Okay. Just making sure you're paying attention." Anita rolled her eyes.

"_W-When Nelson thinks about s-something, he doesn't think a-about anything else and d-does things instinctively." Anita explained. "T-That's how he can get his drawings s-so detailed without really realizing it. I h-have no problem with that, b-but when it starts a-affecting the r-rest of us by l-losing fish, t-that's when it b-bugs us."_

"_Yeah, I kinda zoned out back there. I was just thinking of ways I could get Molly eliminated and the next thing I know, Anita's beside me and there's a fish on the line." Nelson scratched his head._

Nelson finally managed to reel in the fish he had caught. It was indeed a fairly large fish; enough to feed all six people.

"It's a good thing there's only six of us, eh?" Nelson asked. "This should do us tonight."

"G-Good." Anita nodded. "Uh…W-What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing. Just a few issues with the game." Nelson shrugged.

"Y-You want to talk about them?"

"I don't want to trouble you with the details." Nelson replied.

"_I plan on keeping everyone in the dark about Molly. If I told you that such a nice girl was really a massive schemer, no one would believe me without proof." Nelson pointed out. "So, instead of trying to find proof and expose Molly, I'm going to try and find a way to vote her off normally as a threat. Now I need to figure out how…"_

Night eventually showed up. The six finalists went to bed, knowing that a challenge was going to be up tomorrow…

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 32)**

Charlotte walked up to the treemail box. Since they had gone the previous day without a challenge, that meant there would be one today.

"_Things are getting down to the wire and it's almost time to start thinking about the endgame, such as which people would be optimal to take to the finals." Charlotte explained. "I can tell that there are a couple of major jury threats still here, so they would probably be the best to take out first."_

"But the question is which people should go first?" Charlotte mused to herself. "Someone has to be a bigger threat, but who?"

As Charlotte pondered this, Ruth was sitting by the fire pit, alone. Anita wasn't up yet and Nelson was fishing, leaving the elderly Raposa to herself for a bit.

"All three of them are fairly big threats in their own way." Ruth mused to herself. "I wonder if Charlotte or Janine are bigger threats than Molly…"

"_Nelson's had his heart set on eliminating Molly, but it escapes me as to how she could be a bigger threat than someone like Charlotte." Ruth explained. "Molly may be extremely nice, but Charlotte been playing a much-better game. If you ask me, I think Charlotte's a bigger threat than Molly."_

Deciding to check on Nelson, Ruth got up and walked over to where he was fishing. "Nelson, I was just wondering why you think Molly's the biggest threat out of the three of the others?" She asked.

Nelson paused. "Uh…I just think she is." He replied. "Her kindness is going to make her a big jury threat."

"I know, but Charlotte's been playing a far superior game." Ruth reminded. "We may want to take Charlotte out while we have the chance because we know Molly can't win anything physical."

"Uh…Can…Can you just trust me?" Nelson asked nervously.

"_How the heck am I supposed to tell Ruth that I think the kindest person on the island is secretly the same one that spearheaded the majority of the pre-merge eliminations?" Nelson asked. "She'll just think I'm crazy and not vote for me. If I want to get Molly eliminated, I need to make sure that I do it without people finding out what I think she is…"_

"We have treemail." Charlotte announced as she came into came.

"What challenge is it?" Molly asked.

"It just says 'How well can you throw'?" Charlotte replied.

"I just hope it's Reward, then." Ruth shook her head.

"I guess we won't know until we get there." Nelson shrugged.

**(Reward Challenge)**

The six finalists emerged from the jungle and found themselves in a clearing. Walking over to the gold mat on the ground, everyone stepped on and waited for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, everyone. Today, we're going to test your throwing ability as well as your accuracy." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw a large target a ways away, with six javelins nearby. "Normally, in the sport of Javelin Tossing, the object is to throw a javelin further than everyone else. However, here you must try to throw a javelin towards that target and try to get it closest to the middle. You all only get one shot, so remember to make it count. The person that gets their javelin closest to the middle of the target will win Reward, which is a feast at a remote location of the island."

The finalists, feeling hungry, knew what was at stake for the challenge and told themselves to beat everyone else at the challenge.

"Okay, if you're all ready we can begin." SSBFreak said.

Janine was up first. The cavewoman approached the starting line with a javelin in hand.

"Remember that you're trying to hit the target; Not throw it as far as you can." SSBFreak reminded.

"Got it." Janine nodded. Taking a moment to aim, Janine hurled her javelin, throwing it towards the target. Janine's javelin struck the ground in the target, but in one of the outer rings.

"Not a bad throw. We'll soon see if anyone can match that." SSBFreak said.

"Pretty good. Not my best, though." Janine added as she stepped to the side.

Molly approached the line with a javelin, looking hopeless. "Why…Why am I even trying this?" She asked.

"Because every contestant needs to compete." SSBFreak explained.

Molly sighed. "Fine." She said as she threw the javelin with all her might, only managing to make it hit the ground a few yards away.

"Not a very good throw. Janine still leads." SSBFreak said.

Ruth was next and she looked just as hopeless as Molly did. "Why do you do challenges like these with people like me still in the game?" She asked.

"We plan the challenges ahead of time." SSBFreak shrugged. "We have no idea who's going to make it to them."

Ruth rolled her eyes and threw her javelin, barely managing to beat out Molly.

"Again, not a very good throw. Janine still leads." SSBFreak said.

"Like I said…" Ruth shook her head as she stepped aside.

Anita nervously approached the line, holding a javelin in her hand. The blonde girl took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then pulled her arm back. Anita knew that the only was she could even hit the target was to throw as hard as she could, so that's what she did.

"Hmm…Nice throw." SSBFreak noted.

Anita's javelin managed to spike into the ground, into the target. Unfortunately for Anita, the javelin was a couple of rings short of tying with Janine.

"Very close, but not close enough. Janine still leads." SSBFreak explained.

"I…I actually could have done it." Anita said, more in awe, as she stepped aside.

Nelson held his javelin in his hand and experimentally poked the tip, only succeeding in pricking his finger. Cursing lightly, Nelson stuck his self-inflicted wound into his mouth to ease the pain.

SSBFreak rolled his eyes. "Whenever you're ready, Nelson." He said.

Nelson chuckled nervously. "Right." He said as he pulled his arm back and hurled the javelin at the target. The javelin managed to strike the target, two rings closer to the center than Janine's.

"Well, it looks like we've got a new leader." SSBFreak said with a smirk. "Janine is out and Nelson now leads."

Charlotte was the last of the six to go. The German girl approached the line with the last javelin in her hand and looked at the target. Charlotte paused momentarily.

"Uh…Whenever you're ready." SSBFreak said.

"I'm getting there, comrade." Charlotte assured as she took a breath and hurled the javelin with all her might. The others watched as the javelin hit to target, but suddenly noticed that Charlotte was still a ring and a half shy of matching Nelson's throw.

"It's not enough! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Nelson wins Reward!"

"Sweetcakes!" Nelson cheered as Charlotte groaned in disappointment.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Nelson. For winning the challenge, you will go to the designated remote location and enjoy the provided feast." SSBFreak said. "However, because we know it would be pretty lonely, pick one person to bring along with you."

Nelson's face fell. "Only one?" He asked. He suddenly saw Ruth discretely pointing at Anita. "Uh…Anita."

Anita's eyes widened. "R-Really?"

"And pick one person to send to Exile Island." SSBFreak said.

Nelson smirked slightly. "Molly."

Molly's eyes widened in surprise, but she formed a slight smirk herself afterwards.

"Okay. Nelson and Anita will be going on their Reward while Molly will be going to Exile Island." SSBFreak explained. "They will meet up with the rest of you tomorrow at the Immunity Challenge. For now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"Well, this is interesting. Only three of us in the entire camp." Charlotte said with a smirk. "The other half of the finalists are gone for the day."

"The camp DOES feel a little emptier." Ruth shrugged.

"_I never really knew how empty the camp could look until the three of us got back to camp. However, the quiet time would give me some time to think." Charlotte pointed out. "Nelson and Anita are both gone for the day, meaning the only one I really have to deal with is Ruth. I know I'd never get her vote, but at least I can plan on how to outlast her without any distractions."_

Janine was fishing down at the beach when Ruth came walking over. The cavewoman saw the Raposa approaching. "Can I help you with something?" She asked.

"Janine, I know you're still in league with Charlotte. Who are they targeting?" Ruth asked.

"_Janine's smart. She stuck with Charlotte because she knew she'd be expendable if she joined my alliance. However, I know that Janine doesn't like Charlotte much either." Ruth pointed out. "Because of the fact that she doesn't have that close of a friendship with Charlotte, I figure that I should be able to get Janine to spill a few secrets fairly easily."_

"They're still focusing on Nelson. Molly is dead-set on getting him out." Janine explained. "She thinks he's a major mental threat."

"But this late in the game, I think we should focus on the jury threats first. Wouldn't that make Molly a bigger threat?" Ruth challenged.

"No. Molly is physically incapable of winning most challenges. Nelson is a threat while additionally being good at challenges." Janine countered.

"_I knew that both Charlotte and Ruth would be trying to get some ideas into my head when I realized it was just the three of us at camp." Janine explained. "While they both make valid points, I need to stay with the original plan. If I join Ruth's alliance, I finish fourth. If I join Charlotte's alliance, I make the final three at least."_

"But if Molly makes the finals, everyone will vote for her." Ruth reminded.

"I know, and I have no intention on letting her make it that far." Janine assured. "However, I know that if the task is physical, Molly can't win. That makes her a basic non-threat."

As Ruth was talking to Janine, Charlotte stood back, arms folded and looking cross.

"_Just as I thought, Ruth is trying to sway Janine from voting with Molly and I. However, I know that she knows she's have not shot at winning if she joined them." Charlotte said with a smirk. "I'm aware that she doesn't trust me and probably won't vote for me in the end. All the more a reason to take her to the finals."_

**(Exile Island)**

"_I was surprised when Nelson sent me to Exile Island. I can only think of two reasons for him doing so: He already found the idol or he wants me to be miserable when I'm by myself." Molly said. "Well, there's only one way to find out which reason is which, and that's to see if I can find the idol."_

Molly read the clue she had been given and formed a smirk. "You kidding? That's dead easy." She said as she looked around Exile Island and easily spotted her target area.

The pink Minjo walked over to the lone palm tree and stepped up to her dig area. "Let's see…It should be here." She said as she put the clue away and started digging with her hands. "Time to see if that nerd actually found the idol…"

Molly dug for a while and eventually spotted something in the sand. Grinning wickedly, Molly dug harder and pulled a necklace out of the sand. Seven blue gems dangled from the wooden frame of the necklace and everything was strung together with twine.

"I found it!" Molly said. "I freaking found the idol!"

"_This is great for me. Now I can finally get rid of Nelson even if someone else decides to vote for me." Molly said with a smirk. "I know I'll probably get some votes if I don't win Immunity, so this idol will save me by then. Hopefully, I'll be able to take Nelson out with it as well…"_

"Okay. I found the idol. Now all I have to do is wait until tomorrow." Molly said as she sat under the shelter.

The pink Minjo sat there, deep in thought about the game. She knew that she was surrounded by threats, but the biggest problem was deciding which of the threats were more-imposing than the others.

"Charlotte and Ruth have been playing sneaky games. Almost as good as me." Molly admitted. "Janine's a challenge threat and Anita's a jury threat. I'm going to have to decide who to take to the end soon…"

"_Either way you look at it, everyone remaining is a threat in some way. I just need to make myself appear as little a threat as possible after I use the idol." Molly explained. "Ruth and Anita we'll have no problem taking out, and I need to eliminate Charlotte to get her vote. However, if Janine makes it to the end, she may get some jury votes simply because she should have logically been eliminated a few rounds ago…"_

**(Remote Location)**

Nelson and Anita walked onto the location they were told to go and quickly spotted a large table loaded with food. Other than the table, there wasn't much else in the area other than two beds sitting underneath a provided shelter. Anita quickly went over to the table and Nelson followed.

"_I won Reward and it turned out to be a feast for two. Ruth seemed to indicate me taking Anita along, so I decided to respect her wishes." Nelson shrugged. "Honestly, it's too bad that I couldn't bring them both, but I trust that Ruth will be using her time wisely back at camp with Charlotte and Janine."_

Anita happily ate some of the food on her plate. "T-This stuff tastes so g-good. I m-missed eating food other than what w-we've been eating." She admitted. "T-Thank you for bringing me, N-Nelson."

"No problem. It's too bad that I couldn't bring both you and Ruth." Nelson replied. "She seemed to want me to bring you, though."

Anita chuckled. "S-She's going to b-be at camp with Charlotte a-and Janine." She said. "I think she'll f-find a few things out."

"That's what I was thinking."

"_R-Ruth has been waiting for a moment to get into Charlotte's m-mind to find out w-what she thinks about. S-She's just never g-gotten the chance because Charlotte's a-always around Molly." Anita explained. "W-With Molly on Exile Island, R-Ruth will have an easier time in her searches."_

"I…I feel kinda bad e-eating this much food w-when everyone else is s-still hungry." Anita pointed out.

"It happens all the time." Nelson shrugged. "If we weren't here, it would be two other people eating instead."

"I know." Anita sighed as she sat back. "S-So what now?"

"I suppose there's nothing much else to do other than wait for tomorrow." Nelson replied. "At least we'll be well-rested. Those beds look like they're a nice change from sleeping under the shelter we've been under all this time."

Anita couldn't help but chuckle again. "I-I'm feeling tired already." She said. "I…I just hope I don't h-have another nightmare…"

"You've been fine for the last number of days. I think your nightmares are finally starting to stop." Nelson suggested.

"N-No. I've had these nightmares for a while." Anita shook her head. "I-In fact, don't be s-surprised if I w-wake you up within the n-next couple days."

"_When nightmares garner that type of a reaction from someone, they may get voted out because of it. However, no one can help but feel sorry for Anita." Nelson said. "However, I know that this makes Anita a huge jury threat, probably a bigger threat than she even realizes. I just don't know how this is going to work…"_

Night rolled in. The six remaining players, no matter where they were, went to bed to prepare for the next day and the challenge it brought with it.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 33)**

Janine stepped out of the shelter as the first one up. Charlotte and Ruth were both still sound asleep. However, the cavewoman didn't seem to have a problem with that. Janine walked away from the shelter and rotated her arms to iron a few kinks out.

"_I actually like it being quiet around here. When you consider that I started the game on a tribe of nine and was on a tribe of ten at the merge, it's a nice change of pace." Janine admitted. "However, I think I was left with the two people that would try to get my vote the most. That being said, I think the only ones left that wouldn't bother me for votes would be Anita and Molly."_

Rather than check for treemail, Janine sat down at the fishing spot by the beach, looking out at the ocean. Anyone else would have admired the view, but Janine's mind was filled with thoughts.

"_This late in the game, it's always best to think about your endgame plan. I'm in an uphill battle no matter which way you look at it." Janine explained. "I'm going to need to go on an Immunity run if I want to win. I just hope that I make the finals, because if I'm on the jury, I'm not sure if there would be anyone left that I'd willingly give my vote to."_

After getting up, Ruth went to check on treemail and discovered an envelope inside the box. The elderly Raposa pulled the letter from the box and made her way back to camp. "We have treemail. Looks like we're going to meet up with the others again." She explained.

"Time for the Immunity Challenge, then." Charlotte nodded.

"It asks if we remember events during the game that have to do with numbers." Ruth replied, lifting an eyebrow.

"Hmm…This could be interesting." Charlotte noted.

"But we have no idea what they're talking about." Ruth shook her head.

"No, but that just makes it an even playing field."

"_If it isn't physical, I have a shot at winning. From the sound of things, the challenge won't revolve around muscle." Ruth pointed out. "I know that my alliance will be a target tonight, so I need to make sure that one of us wins Immunity, or at least keep our targets from winning it themselves."_

"_I've been paying pretty close attention to detail throughout the game. I think I may have an advantage in a game like this." Charlotte admitted. "As long as the game plays to my advantage somehow, I think I can pull off a victory, which is what everyone will be needing this late in the game."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

Charlotte, Janine and Ruth emerged from the jungle and walked over to their mat in a clearing. Stepping on, the three women waited for the game to start.

"Before we begin, let's bring back Nelson and Anita, whom are returning from their reward, and Molly, whom is back from Exile Island." SSBFreak said.

The other half of the final six walked in from opposite sides and joined the others on the mat to form a complete six again.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will see if you've been paying attention to the numbers in the game." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw that the only things in the clearing they were in were six stumps. "I will ask you all questions pertaining to a specific number in the game, and you have to write down what number you think the correct answer is. Whoever is the closest gets a point, and if there is a tie, then everyone who tied will get a point. Simply put, the first person to five points will win Immunity and be safe from Tribal Council tonight."

The six finalists looked at each other uneasily, knowing this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.

"If you'll all take your seats, we can begin." SSBFreak said.

The six finalists walked over to the stumps and sat down, grabbing the tablets provided and getting ready for the challenge to start.

"Okay. For Immunity, here's the first question." SSBFreak said. "How many people in total were still in the game when Brick had his accident?"

The contestants had to think for a moment before writing numbers down on their tablets. SSBFreak waited for everyone to finish writing.

"Okay. If you'll show you numbers…"

Everyone turned their tablets around. Charlotte, Molly and Nelson had shown a number of 13, while everyone else had written 14.

"The correct answer is thirteen. Charlotte, Molly and Nelson all get a point." SSBFreak explained.

"Drat. I must have forgotten the double-boot." Ruth cursed herself.

"Okay. Here's the next question." SSBFreak continued. "How many Opito players were in the game at Day 20?"

This caught nearly everyone off guard. Everyone thought hard and eventually wrote down their answers. When prompted, they all turned their ballots around. Anita, Charlotte, Janine and Molly had answered 5, while Nelson and Ruth had answered 4.

"Day 20 was your first official merge day, and there were five from each tribe by then." SSBFreak explained. "Everyone except Nelson and Ruth get a point. Charlotte and Molly now have two, while Anita, Janine and Nelson have one."

"I thought Roscoe was eliminated by then." Nelson scratched his head.

"Here's question three…" SSBFreak said. "How many people were eliminated when we had the dodgeball challenge?"

Not a lot of people had to think hard about this, because the challenge was after a day they all remembered. Everyone held their answers up and they were all 6's.

"I can see you remember that challenge well, probably because Brick was evacuated just before it. You're all correct." SSBFreak nodded. "Charlotte and Molly have three points, while Anita, Janine and Nelson have two. Ruth is now on board with one."

"It's hard to forget that challenge." Janine shook her head.

"Okay. Here's the next question." SSBFreak said. "How many Eleda players actually made it through the maze challenge on Day 3 before Opito won?"

The contestants thought hard about this for a number of seconds before writing their answers down. When they showed their answers, it was revealed that Molly, Anita and Nelson had written 7 while Charlotte, Janine and Ruth wrote 6.

"While Charlotte and Krash still hadn't entered the maze, Lynn hadn't exited the maze either. That means the answers is 6, so Charlotte, Janine and Ruth each get a point." SSBFreak announced.

"I can't believe it. A trick question." Molly sighed.

"Here's where we stand. Charlotte has four points, while Janine has three and everyone else has two." SSBFreak explained. "If Charlotte gets one more point, she wins. Here's the next question…" He continued. "How many people were still in the game after Lynn was eliminated?"

After a bit of thinking, everyone wrote their answers and showed them when prompted. Janine was the only one showing a 15 while everyone else had a 14.

"There were fifteen people voted out since Lynn was the third one eliminated. Janine is the only one to get a point and has tied Charlotte at four." SSBFreak explained.

Charlotte and Janine looked at each other, knowing it would be close.

"Here's the next question." SSBFreak explained. "How many people contributed to voting out Jack?"

Everyone thought again and wrote down their answers. When they showed their tablets, it was revealed that Charlotte, Janine and Molly had written down 4's while Anita, Nelson and Ruth were holding 5's.

"The answer is four. Molly gets a point, but she can't win since Charlotte and Janine have both reached five points. We're going to have to move to a tiebreaker." SSBFreak explained. "No one else can win at this point."

The others stepped away from their stumps as Charlotte and Janine remained, knowing that this next question would decide the winner.

"How many votes have been cast in total since we started?" SSBFreak asked.

The two women thought furiously and desperately calculated their numbers in their heads, trying to come up with the right number first. After several seconds, Charlotte and Janine wrote numbers down and showed them to the host. Charlotte was holding an 85 while Janine was holding a 94.

"If there would have been a vote when Brick was eliminated, there would have indeed been 94 votes cast." SSBFreak said. "However, since there wasn't, that means that the total number was 87. That means that Charlotte wins Immunity!"

Charlotte cheered and put her tablet down. Janine groaned in frustration.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity for the second time, Charlotte. You have a one-in-five shot at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he placed the Immunity Headdress on Charlotte's head again.

"It's good to have it back, comrade." Charlotte nodded.

SSBFreak turned to the other players. "However, I'll be seeing everyone here tonight at Tribal Council, where one of you will be voted out of the game, suffering a similar fate to many of those that fell before you." He said. "I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decision, so for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"We're voting for Molly, right?" Ruth asked.

Nelson nodded. "She's the biggest jury threat here." He replied. "She's probably got automatic votes from Mason, Jack and Roscoe since she was aligned with all of them."

"That's bad." Anita said with wide eyes. "Y-You think you can beat her in a tiebreaker?"

"Don't worry about me." Nelson assured.

"_I need to focus on eliminating Molly. Shamus was way too forward with his attempts to get her out, and that resulted in him going instead." Nelson pointed out. "However, if I paint Molly as a huge jury threat like she seems to be, I'm sore by now that she's more-likely to get votes. I just hope that this whole thing works…"_

"Nelson we need to make sure you're ready for any tiebreaker they throw at us." Ruth reminded. "It's either going to be you or her tonight and we need to make sure it isn't you."

"It won't be. Don't worry."

"_N-Nelson seems too c-comfortable with this. H-He seems to know how the v-vote's going to go." Anita said. "T-There's only six of us l-left. H-How are we going to avoid a tiebreaker u-unless we split the v-votes from the others, which s-seems like it's unlikely it will e-even happen at all."_

Meanwhile, the other three members of the final six were sitting aside, discussing how the vote was going to go.

"We've voting Nelson, right?" Molly asked.

"He's a big threat and I suppose I owe you for letting me do my thing for a while." Charlotte nodded.

"That's a relief. You're sure you're voting with me this time?"

"Don't worry."

"_Charlotte won Immunity, not that it matters much. As soon as it came down to her and Janine, I didn't care who won." Molly shrugged with a smirk. "Now that Nelson isn't immune, I can use my idol to get rid of him. I know I'll be getting half the votes tonight, so my idol will negate them and leave Nelson with just his votes, thus saving me from having to do a tiebreaker."_

Janine sat back as Charlotte and Molly talked, arms folded. The cavewoman let out a sigh.

"_I don't have much of a choice in this. If I don't vote with them, I'm outnumbered. I want to vote for someone I consider a bigger threat, but I can't convince the others otherwise." Janine rolled her eyes. "I just wish there was a way I could get them to vote with me and not the other way around…"_

**(Tribal Council)**

The six finalists walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Walking over to the dwindling number of seats, everyone sat down and waited for council to commence.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of our jury." SSBFreak said. "Roscoe, Mason, Jack and Oiler, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

The finalists watched as Oiler followed the other guys into the hut. The crash dummy was now wearing a powder blue mechanic suit, complete with a matching, loose-fitting cap. The four jury members sat down on the jury bench.

"They're just here to observe the outcome. You are not to address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak explained. "Janine, your friend since the start was eliminated the last time you all saw me. What went through you mind?"

"Oh, I don't know. I felt betrayed at first, but then I realized who was left in the game." Janine said. "I consider Oiler's elimination an eye-opener for me. It made me realize that people will do anything to win."

Oiler smirked. "She's finally getting it." He said.

"Charlotte, you were one of the people that voted out Oiler even though you seemed aligned with Janine." SSBFreak said. "Care to explain yourself?"

"He and Janine were part of a strong alliance and they had been together since the start." Charlotte explained. "I just thought that if I didn't separate them, they would have gone to the end together."

"And you thought losing my respect was worth it?" Janine accused.

"Janine, it's a game. It's not the end of the world." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't sound like Charlotte would vote for Janine to win…" Roscoe noted.

"Then again, it doesn't seem like Janine would vote for Charlotte either…" Jack added.

"Nelson, you're the only guy left in the game. You think this will make you a target?" SSBFreak asked.

"Probably, but if I go down, I'm not going down without a fight." Nelson said with a smirk. "I've lasted this long, after all. I think I have what it takes to take it all the way."

"Even though you've been a target numerous times?"

"You take what you get." Nelson shrugged.

"Molly's been targeting him for a while, though." Oiler reminded.

"Ruth, how do you think the voting will go?" SSBFreak asked.

"We know we're going to have a tiebreaker." Ruth explained. "The fate of one alliance basically rests in how the tiebreaker will end."

"Who are the targets?"

"From what I can tell, Molly and Nelson." Ruth replied. "I think that this little spat will be settled tonight, but I just hope it goes the way I want."

"Three-on-three." Jack shook his head. "This is gonna be one heck of a Tribal Council."

"Molly, what are you opinions on this?" SSBFreak asked.

"I can understand how I may be considered a threat, but everyone needs to see who the bigger threat is." Molly replied. "I just think that Nelson is a bigger threat than me."

"Are you sure?"

"Look at me. I'm not a challenge threat." Molly reminded.

"She's right, you know." Mason added.

"No one asked you." Roscoe muttered.

"Anita, do you know who you're voting for?" SSBFreak asked.

Anita nodded. "Y-Yes. I-I'm voting for who I think i-is a bigger threat." She replied. "W-We're all threats at this p-point, so it's j-just a question as to who's bigger."

"Well, I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before we vote, I have to ask. Charlotte, you have Immunity. Will you be giving it to someone else?"

"No. I'm keeping it."

"With that, Charlotte is safe and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Ruth, you're up."

The elder player got up and left the hut, walking to the voting table. "I hope you've been training, Nelson." She said as she wrote a name down and voted.

Janine walked up to the voting table quietly. The cavewoman wrote a name down and placed it into the urn. Giving a sigh, Janine returned to the hut.

Nelson gave a smirk as he wrote a name down and turned his ballot around, showing Molly's name. "It's time to do what the others couldn't." He said.

Charlotte, wearing the Immunity Headdress, approached the table and scribbled a name down quickly. Without second-guessing herself, Charlotte placed her ballot into the urn.

Molly, like Nelson, was smirking as she wrote a name down and showed her vote to the camera. "I'm finishing you off, twerp." She said, having voted for Nelson.

Anita nervously stepped up to the table and wrote a name down. "Our g-game's riding on this…" She said as she placed her ballot into the urn.

Once all six had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and came back with it. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." SSBFreak said. "If anyone has the Hidden Immunity Idol, now's the time to play it."

"Um…Excuse me?"

Everyone turned to Molly. The Minjo stood up and walked towards the host, pulling the necklace she found from her pocket. "I found this on Exile Island." She said with a smile. "I'd like to play it."

"The Hidden Immunity Idol!" Janine said. Ruth and Anita looked horrified as SSBFreak took the idol from Molly and examined it. Molly stood proud, awaiting the verdict. SSBFreak blinked in confusion a few times.

"Molly, this isn't the idol."

Molly's eyes snapped open. "W-What?! But…I FOUND it!!" She insisted.

"The idol doesn't have any blue stones like this." SSBFreak said. "This is a fake."

"It…It was buried!!" Molly said. "It was freaking BURIED!!"

"Uh…Yeah, I made it."

Molly spun around and saw Nelson sitting there, looking triumphant. Nelson reached into his shirt and pulled out the idol, the real one that he had found with Slimer, from within. Ruth and Anita looked amazed as Nelson stood up, walked over to the host and handed it over. "I found this with my little green buddy." He said.

"THIS, however, is indeed the real idol." SSBFreak nodded. "All votes cast against Nelson are now void."

Molly's eye twitched as she narrowed her vision. "You…You tricked me!!" She roared. "You miserable little weasel!!"

Everyone else stared with wide and shocked eyes at Molly's uncharacteristic outburst. Suddenly, everyone realized that Molly wasn't exactly who she said she was.

"If you two will return to you seats..." SSBFreak said. Molly stormed back over to her seat as Nelson casually strolled back, looking proud. "It's now time to read the votes…"

"…First vote, Nelson. Doesn't count." Nelson gave a smirk.

"Nelson. Doesn't count." Molly shook in hatred, making the others look at her with wide eyes.

"Nelson. Doesn't count." Ruth and Anita looked at each other, wondering if Nelson knew all along…

"…Molly." The members of the jury looked at each other, realizing they had all been played.

"Molly." Molly growled and clenched her fists. "Final vote, fifth member of the jury and thirteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Molly. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"You ruined my game." Molly hissed at Nelson as she got up and snatched her torch. "I hope you burn for it." The exposed Minjo stormed over to the host, looking none-too-pleased.

"Molly, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Molly's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"None of you deserve the million!!" Molly screamed as she stamped out of the hut without looking back.

Once Molly was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "And thus, we have lost what may have been the biggest villain we've had yet. I'm not sure how you guys managed to see through Molly's façade, but I have to give props to you for doing it." He explained. "There are five of you left. The tribe's definitely getting smaller. We're fast approaching the finale, so now the biggest question is who do you think would be the best person to take to the end. With that in mind, I'll leave you all for now, so you can all head back to camp."

The five finalists stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. With the exception of Nelson, they all looked shocked at how Molly had literally gone from sweet girl to pure evil within a few seconds. Nelson, on the other hand, had never looked prouder. It had taken him almost the full-course of the game, but he had finally avenged his allies and eliminated everyone responsible, ending with the ringleader…

"_I worked incredibly hard for this prize!! I deserve the win way more than any of those brainless morons back there!" Molly said in frustration. "I hope you all know what you've done! You ruined my chance at a million dollars! All I can say is that whoever wins this now doesn't deserve it because I'm not there anymore!"_

**Voting History:**

**Molly – Anita, Nelson and Ruth**

**Nelson – Charlotte, Janine and Molly (NOT COUNTED)**

Author's Note: Molly may have been a great villain, but you knew she didn't have a chance at winning, right?

I wanted to portray Molly as someone who knew what she was doing and played a great game to show it (although no one would notice), and yet lose it all with something she wouldn't see coming. I wanted Nelson to avenge his tribe-mates, and I knew that a fake idol would probably be the best way to do it.


	14. Days 34 to 36

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

The final five walked back into camp, still in disbelief. Nelson was the only exception, and he was beaming with pride.

"_Nelson pulled off the move of a lifetime and used a fake idol to eliminate Molly. However, what surprised all of us was how Molly reacted to it." Ruth said. "I…I don't get it. Was she really leading the others on like that while pretending to be the nice girl? How long has Nelson known that?_"

"Was Molly playing us all for the fool?" Janine asked.

"Since the start. That cheerful attitude she was giving all of us wasn't her in the slightest." Nelson said.

"How'd you make that fake idol, anyway?" Ruth asked.

Nelson grinned as he pulled a familiar pouch of blue powder from his pocket. "You can thank a past tribe-mate for that." He said.

"_I used Ginny's blue powder on a few normal rocks and spent a good while polishing them to make them look shiny." Nelson explained. "I needed to make sure Molly would fall for it if she was sent to Exile Island and, luckily for me, she did. It feels so good to know that I managed to avenge my past allies now."_

Meanwhile, Charlotte was standing aside as the others talked, thinking more to herself as to what to do now.

"_This isn't good. Molly may have tricked us with a massive nice-girl façade, but she was still my ally. Without her, I'm in the minority again." Charlotte pointed out. "The competition's nearing its end and my battle to make the finals is going to be even harder now. I need numbers more than anything at this point and I'll take them wherever I can."_

"G-Good job at finding out, though." Anita said. "I-If that d-didn't happen, M-Molly may have gone r-right to the end."

"I know. That's what I've been trying to prevent since Shamus got eliminated." Nelson nodded.

"Well, this is it, huh?" Ruth asked. "The final five."

"We've certainly come a long way." Janine nodded. "But the competition's not over yet."

"She's right. There's still a week left before the end." Charlotte added. "The competition's only going to get worse."

Everyone decided to go to bed, knowing that the following day would be one of the last days they'd probably have to themselves…

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 34)**

Charlotte was sitting by the fire pit, in deep thought, as Janine came walking down to her from the shelter.

"Something on your mind?" Janine asked.

"Janine, we seem to be in a bit of a problem." Charlotte said.

"What do you mean?"

"There's two of us and three of them." Charlotte replied. "If we don't find a way to gain an advantage, we'll be picked off one after the other."

"Well, there IS something we can do about it." Janine shrugged.

Charlotte paused in thought, then nodded. "Nelson."

"Right."

"_What I don't think Nelson's realized is that he's the last-remaining Opito player and he's a big-enough threat as it is." Janine pointed out. "Since we know we'd never be able to get Ruth and Anita to turn on each other, we're going to have to attempt to sway Nelson to our side. It's possible when you consider he's aligned with two major threats."_

"If we can convince Nelson that Ruth and Anita are bigger threats than we are, we may be able to get him to vote with us, if only once." Janine said.

"Yes. If we can get him to vote out Ruth, then we'll-" Charlotte began.

"Anita." Janine said, cutting Charlotte off.

Charlotte turned to look at Janine, whom was folding her arms. "You're still going on about that?" She asked.

"Anita's a bigger threat." Janine said defiantly.

"_The biggest issue Janine and I have with each other is that we're both persistent with who we target. She's intent on voting Anita out first while I stand by my choice of getting rid of Ruth." Charlotte explained. "It's frustrating when the only person you can rely on isn't willing to vote your way."_

Meanwhile, the other three members of the final five were off to the side, on the small island.

"Man. I can't believe it. We're in the final five already." Nelson said as he leaned against a tree.

"That may be so, but now's not the time to celebrate." Ruth reminded. "We're in the majority now, so we need to decide on which of the other two is the biggest threat."

"Charlotte." Anita said instantly. "She…She's a bigger strategic t-threat."

"But Janine automatically has Oiler's vote, as well as the votes of anyone else that would just vote against any of us because we made them mad." Ruth replied. "Molly and Mason, perhaps."

"_No matter how you look at it, we're all threats in some way or another. There's a jury threat, a mental threat, a physical threat and two strategic threats." Ruth explained. "Now that we know the finale is approaching, we all need to choose who to take to the end, and that would be who we think we could win against."_

"W-What do we do?" Anita asked. "T-They're both big threats."

"I know. They've both won challenges, but Janine's far stronger." Nelson nodded. "On the other hand, we all know that Charlotte's a more-calculating person than Janine is."

"D-Does Charlotte have any guaranteed votes?" Anita asked.

"Not that I can think of since Krash was ousted before the merge." Ruth replied. "That may make Janine a bigger threat at the moment…"

"B-But Charlotte's done more moves a-and the jury may v-vote based on s-strategy." Anita added.

The three looked at each other and groaned.

"_I h-hate this. N-No matter who we g-go after, there w-will be another threat g-going further into the game." Anita moaned. "W-We need to m-make sure Charlotte a-and Janine go back to back, b-but we n-need to decide who to g-go after first."_

"_We've gotten ourselves into a hole by letting both Charlotte and Janine make it this far. Charlotte's played a better game, but Janine has a better chance at securing swing votes." Ruth said. "If we vote one way, we may dig ourselves even deeper by not voting the other way."_

"I think I may go try some fishing. Maybe it'll take my mind off this for a moment." Nelson said.

"That's fine." Ruth said.

Nelson walked across the bridge connecting the small island to the shore and walked over to Oiler's fishing spot. Grabbing the line, Nelson cast it out and waited.

"_Voting out Molly was one of the best feelings I've had out here. I made good on my promise to my allies to outlast everyone responsible for their eliminations." Nelson said. "Roscoe, Mason, Jack and now Molly. It took almost the full competition, but I finally got back at them. Now that the problem of exposing Molly is out of the way, I need to focus on my endgame plan."_

"Nelson, can we talk?"

Nelson turned his head and saw Charlotte coming over. "What?" He asked.

"Nelson, Janine and I need your help." Charlotte said.

Nelson smirked. "Excuse me? You think I would help you guys after I've secured an alliance with the others?" He asked. "Charlotte, I know you'd like to think you're the craftiest person here, but you've spent the majority of the post-merge game being led on by an evil player that is probably three times as bad as you."

Charlotte remained silent, but her eyes narrowed at Nelson's comment.

"Heck, I'm curious. Tell me exactly why you think I would vote for Ruth or Anita?" Nelson asked.

"Because they're both big threats."

"_Janine and I need Nelson's assistance to break up Ruth and Anita, and the only way to do that is to get him to vote with us." Charlotte explained. "I know it'll be hard, but like I said, it's the only way Janine and I will be able to survive to the end."_

"Ruth has been playing just as good of a strategic game as me, and Anita is a huge jury threat." Charlotte told Nelson. "Anita would probably get a vast amount of sympathy votes after what she's been through."

Nelson didn't answer, but he looked in thought. Charlotte took that as making progress. "Think about it, Nelson. Janine isn't a big threat other than her strength and Ruth is just as big a threat as I am." She continued. "You know you won't win going against either of them in the end, and the end is quickly coming upon us."

Charlotte eventually turned and left Nelson alone. The lanky nerd now had several more things to think about, including a few things that hadn't even crossed his mind before.

Meanwhile, Charlotte had returned to the fire pit, where Janine was waiting. "You think he'll do it?" Janine asked.

"We've planted ideas. It's a start." Charlotte replied as she sat down. "We'll let him think about it for now."

"_I think this was a good idea, not that we had many ideas to begin with. However, I think this could end up working." Charlotte said. "I know Nelson's in an alliance with the others, but once he sees that they're big threats, maybe he'll vote with us instead. All we need is one vote and we're back in business."_

"_If there's one thing Charlotte has going for her, it's her ability to plant ideas into the heads of other people." Janine said. "I know this could potentially lead to her undoing at the end at the hands of the jury, but that's fine with me. If there're enough people on the jury mad at her, I'll end up getting more votes."_

However, what Charlotte wasn't aware of was that a familiar blonde girl was watching her conversation with Nelson and wasn't liking what she was hearing. Anita quickly retreated to go tell Ruth.

"_T-This isn't good at all. C-Charlotte is trying t-to get Nelson to b-betray us, a-and knowing Charlotte, it m-may actually w-work." Anita said. "R-Ruth and I n-need to get Nelson to r-realize that the others are b-bigger threats if we w-want him to v-vote with us. I know t-that this shouldn't be happening, b-but some p-people will do anything to s-survive."_

Night came around. The five finalists decided to go to bed, knowing that there was a challenge the following day that they needed to be ready for.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 35)**

"Where's Nelson?" Ruth asked as she emerged from the shelter.

"I t-think he's getting treemail." Anita replied.

"You're sure Charlotte's trying to plant ideas into his head?" Ruth asked.

"I s-saw her."

"_Charlotte's trying to get an ally to turn against us, and the sad thing is that it may actually work in the end." Ruth explained. "We're all threats, so all Charlotte needs to do is convince him that Anita and I are bigger threats than her and Janine. I'm worried that Nelson will vote against us because Charlotte's good at mind games."_

"We need to make sure we talk to him and get those ideas out of his head." Ruth instructed.

"R-Right."

"_I t-told Ruth what I heard last night and we knew w-we had to get N-Nelson to stick with us. However, h-he was up pretty early today." Anita rubbed her head nervously. "I j-just hope he knows t-to vote with us w-when it comes down to it. A-All he needs is a-a talking-to."_

Meanwhile, Charlotte was down by the fire pit, waiting. Seeing Ruth and Anita fidgeting made her smirk to herself. Janine wandered over, seeing her by herself.

"Looks like they both know what we're trying to do." Janine pointed out.

"That's fine. I have an idea." Charlotte assured.

Janine rolled her eyes. "You need to think things through better. There have been numerous times where your ideas haven't gotten you far." She said.

"Trust me."

"No."

"_I made sure I talked to Nelson late last night for a reason. It's all part of the plan, and one that I REALLY hope doesn't hurt me in the process." Charlotte said. "I don't want the others to get too comfortable, because if everything goes accordingly, they'll be extremely upset when it's all said and done."_

"We have treemail." Nelson announced as he walked into camp. The other four finalists gathered around him.

"What type of challenge is it?" Janine asked.

"It just says 'Can you complete a puzzle'?" Nelson replied.

"Sounds simple enough, and that means it's not." Charlotte shook her head. "We may as well head out and see what we've up against."

**(Reward Challenge)**

The five finalists walked into a clearing in the jungle and approached their mat. Stepping on, the dwindling group waited for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your final Reward Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will see how good you are at putting things together." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw five piles of pieces behind them, each pile with a picture nearby. "You're each given a picture as reference and must use the pieces provided to fully-construct a picture that looks exactly like the example. The first one to fully complete the puzzle will win Reward, which is a special advantage in the upcoming Immunity Challenge."

Everyone looked at each other, knowing that their performance in the more-important challenge would be depending on this one.

"If you'll all take your positions, we'll start." SSBFreak continued.

The five walked over to the piles, seeing that they were all putting together a different puzzle. Nevertheless, they all waited for the challenge to start.

"Okay, for Reward, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!"

Everyone instantly got to work on their puzzles, quickly trying to find the edges first and work around them.

"How many pieces are there here?" Janine asked. "There has to be at least a hundred."

Charlotte quickly found a few border pieces and connected them. "Not off to a bad start." She noted to herself.

Nelson was trying to block out everything around him and focus on the task. As of now, he looked extremely determined to get the task done.

Anita tried putting two border pieces together, and had no luck connecting them. "C-Crap. That's not right." She said as she tried again with another border piece.

Ruth was trying a similar strategy to Nelson and was remaining focused on the challenge. However, this didn't stop the elderly Raposa from occasionally glancing at her competition to see how much progress they had made.

The five finalists worked on their puzzles, some having more success on putting together their border than others. This continued for a number of minutes.

"You've been at the task for ten minutes now. Are you guys starting to crack under the pressure?" SSBFreak asked.

"I can do this all day!" Nelson challenged.

"Good, because we're going to be here until someone finishes, and each puzzle consists of a hundred pieces." SSBFreak said before turning to another person. "Charlotte, you seem pretty focused. You think you can win?"

"Comrade, the only way I'll remain focused is if no one bothers me." Charlotte said without bothering to look at the host.

SSBFreak scratched his head. "I'm never going to get a real answer out of you in challenges like these, am I?" He asked.

"You got it, buster."

The host gave a shrug. "Ruth, what's going through your mind right now?" He asked.

"The only thing I'm thinking of is how to finish this puzzle." Ruth explained.

"Is it harder than it looks?"

"Try asking me that later when I've actually made some progress."

SSBFreak went onto the next person. "Anita, what are your thoughts here?" He asked.

"H-How much I hate puzzles!" Anita replied, having hardly made any progress at all. "I…I only have three pieces c-connected!"

"Well, I'll let you all get back to it and come back to you later." SSBFreak said.

The finalists continued to work on their puzzles, some slowly making progress. Eventually, the majority of the five had managed to complete the entire barrier of the puzzle and were starting to work on filling the middle portion in. Anita was still far behind, not even close to finishing her barrier, and Janine was doing only slightly better than she was.

Ruth put the last couple of barrier pieces into place and quickly looked through her remaining pieces. "Time for me to start with the middle." She mused. "Where do I start?"

Janine moaned as she failed to attach another barrier piece. "I've gone through all of the remaining barrier pieces. Why is this not working?" She asked herself.

Charlotte was smirking as she attached another piece to her puzzle, having started with the middle portion of her puzzle. "I'm making good progress. All I have to do is hope I'm ahead of everyone else." She said.

However, because Charlotte wasn't looking at the others, she didn't notice that Nelson was doing well with his puzzle as well. The lanky nerd quickly attached a couple more pieces to his puzzle. "Okay. Now that the barrier's done, this may get a little easier…" He said.

Anita was still struggling on her puzzle. The blonde girl was rushing to get things done, and thus wasn't making as much progress as the others. "W-Why is this so hard?" She asked herself.

The contestants continued for another several minutes before SSBFreak decided to ask questions again. "It's been a half an hour and no one's finishes yet." He explained. "Janine, what do you think is taking so long?"

"You expect us to have a hundred-piece puzzle done in half an hour?" Janine countered. "I don't think so."

"Even still, no one seems to be done yet."

"Doing a puzzle is a time-consuming task. You should know that."

SSBFreak scratched his head before moving on. "Charlotte, you've still been pretty quiet. I take it you're still focusing on the challenge?" He asked.

"Yes." Was Charlotte's reply.

"Uh…Can you elaborate a little further?"

"No."

SSBFreak rolled his eyes and went on. "How're things going on your puzzle, Nelson?" He asked.

"I'm making good progress. I should have it done before too long." Nelson replied.

"How long would you say it would take you to finish?" The host continued.

"If I don't get stuck, I may have it done within another half hour." Nelson shrugged as he went back to work.

"Well, I'll let you guys get back to it, since you seem to be intent on finishing first." SSBFreak shrugged.

The finalists continued, slowly making progress. Another several minutes passed and no one had completed their puzzle yet. Charlotte and Nelson were making good progress and Ruth was managing to catch up. Janine had just managed to finish her barrier while Anita was still far behind everyone else.

"Almost there." Charlotte said to herself. "Almost there."

"I need the advantage." Nelson said. "I need to get done first…"

"This…This is j-just hopeless." Anita sighed as she placed her pieces down.

"I just need to hope the others ran into more mistakes than me." Ruth muttered to herself. "Otherwise, I think I may be in trouble."

"How can they be doing this so fast?" Janine asked herself as she connected two pieces. "It's taking me twice as long as them."

"Everyone, it's been forty-five minutes and the challenge is still going on." SSBFreak explained. "Anita, it seems as if you've given up."

"T-There's no way I'll c-catch up to the l-leaders." Anita explained. "I'm t-too far behind."

"So you're just not trying?"

"I-If I know I'm n-not going to win, w-what's the point?" Anita asked.

"Ruth, it seems that you're closing the gap between you and the leaders." SSBFreak explained. "What's the secret?"

"I'm just trying to logically think things through, which is the best thing to do for a puzzle when you think about it." Ruth replied.

"Janine, do you think you have a chance at winning?" SSBFreak asked.

"Truth be told? Not really." Janine shook her head.

"And yet you're still trying?"

"If everyone else runs into a big roadblock, then I've got my chance." Janine replied. "I think that we've all got a good shot at-"

"I've finished!"

Everyone looked at Charlotte's picture and saw that it had indeed been finished. The German woman sat back, satisfied.

"That's it alright! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Charlotte wins Reward!"

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Charlotte. For the victory, you will gain an advantage in the Immunity Challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak said.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what it is?" Charlotte asked.

"No, but I WILL ask you to send someone to Exile Island one last time." SSBFreak said.

Charlotte smirked. "Nelson."

Nelson lifted an eyebrow, but shrugged.

"Okay. Nelson will be going to Exile Island and will rejoin you girls at the challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak explained. "Everyone else, you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"Charlotte, what were you thinking by sending Nelson to Exile?!" Janine asked. "We needed this time to convince him to vote with us!"

"Janine, trust me. This is our best chance." Charlotte assured.

"The last time I trusted you, you voted out my friend." Janine said, her eyes narrowed. "I have a hard time doing it anymore."

"_Charlotte won Reward and sent Nelson to Exile. This is bad, because we need all the time we can get to convince him to switch sides." Janine sighed. "I know Charlotte's always thinking up ideas, and I think that will eventually lead to her downfall here. If Nelson returns and doesn't vote with us, I just hope they go after Charlotte first."_

"_I was the last person to talk to Nelson before the challenge. I made sure Ruth and Anita didn't get the chance to give him second thoughts." Charlotte explained. "Now he's all alone on Exile with nothing but his thoughts now that the idol's been used. That time alone should get him thinking on my ideas since they're still fresh in his mind."_

"Nelson's got nothing to do out there, so the only thing he can do is think about what I said to him." Charlotte reminded. "I think sending him out there was probably our best bet at getting him to align with us."

Janine sighed. "I suppose it takes away the threat of Ruth and Anita talking to him." She admitted.

"Good to see that you see things my way."

"Believe me, I don't."

Meanwhile, Ruth and Anita were down at the fishing spot. Anita was currently trying to catch a fish while Ruth, surprisingly, had now taken to drawing in the sand with a stick in a similar fashion to what Nelson had done.

"W-Why are you doing that, Ruth?" Anita asked.

"Nelson says it's a good stress reliever. So far, it's not working." Ruth shook her head.

"_Anita and I know that Charlotte's been trying to get at Nelson these past couple of days, and she sent him to Exile which means that we can't get him to think straight." Ruth sighed. "All I can say is that if Nelson comes back and votes against us, I'm not only going to be mad at him, but Charlotte as well."_

"What do you think, Anita?" Ruth asked. "What should we do?"

"W-We won't get much of a chance t-to talk to h-him until after the challenge t-tomorrow." Anita replied. "W-We need to m-make sure we get as m-much time as we can get."

"It's our only real chance to talk to him." Ruth nodded.

"_I h-hate seeing R-Ruth not knowing w-what to do. She's a-always been one to come up w-with a way around things." Anita said. "I-It's kept us b-both here this long, so w-we need to make s-sure that we last the r-rest of the competition."_

**(Exile Island)**

Nelson looked around the barren wasteland that was Exile Island. Now that he had found (and played) the only Hidden Immunity Idol in the game, he literally had nothing to do.

"Well, now what?" Nelson asked himself.

"_Exile Island was real boring this time around because I had nothing to do. The idol's already gone, so I can't search for it." Nelson sighed. "The only thing I could really do is just sit around and wait for my banishment to end."_

Nelson sat underneath a tree, relaxing. However, as he did, several thoughts went through his mind.

"Charlotte had a point. Ruth and Anita are big threats." Nelson said. "But I can't deny that Charlotte and Janine are just as big of threats."

"_Charlotte's been telling me that Ruth and Anita are big threats. I'm aware of that. Everyone remaining is a threat in some form or another." Nelson shrugged. "However, I need to decide which people I would have an easier time of beating in the finals and I just don't know anymore."_

"I'm pretty sure I can beat Janine in the end, but Anita is probably capable of getting more jury votes." Nelson reasoned. "Ruth and Charlotte have both made enemies on the jury, but which of the two made more?..."

Nelson sighed as he sat back. "Man. No matter which side I pick, I'll have a battle ahead of me." He said. "But…Which battle will be easier to win in the end?"

"_I have a choice between two alliances that each consist of two big threats. All I can say is that it's not an easy choice." Nelson sighed. "I'm really between a rock and a hard place here, because I know I'll be making some people mad no matter which way I go."_

Night eventually came around. No matter where they were, everyone ended up going to sleep to prepare for the challenge the following day.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 36)**

"_We'll be having our Immunity Challenge today, which means we're approaching the home stretch for the contest." Ruth explained. "It's hard to believe that we've been at this for over a month now. But I can't let this distract us. As soon as we have our challenge, Anita and I need to have a talk with Nelson."_

"What type o-of challenge do you think w-we'll be having?" Anita asked.

"Whatever it is, Charlotte has the advantage." Ruth explained. "We need to make sure she doesn't win."

"I-I know." Anita nodded.

"_I-I'm worried. The Immunity C-Challenge is coming and Charlotte h-has an advantage. W-We don't know what it i-is, but it d-doesn't matter." Anita said. "A-As long as we make sure Charlotte doesn't w-win, we're good. J-Janine isn't as b-big of a jury threat as Charlotte is."_

Meanwhile, Charlotte and Janine were going to check on treemail to see if it was time to head out.

"Well, this is it." Janine said. "Time to see if your little idea paid off."

"Quit being cynical, Janine. I know for a fact you want it to work as much as I do." Charlotte replied.

"I didn't say that. I just wish it could have been handled better."

"_Janine irritates me sometimes. I know I'm in just as much trouble as she is if this fails, so I want it to work more than anyone." Charlotte insisted. "I thought sending Nelson to Exile was the best route and she apparently doesn't see it my way."_

Charlotte reached into the box and pulled out an envelope. "Looks like we've got treemail."

"That would be the Immunity Challenge." Janine said. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Charlotte shrugged as the two went back to camp with the envelope. "We have treemail, you two."

"The Immunity Challenge?" Ruth asked.

"Yes. It just says 'How flexible are you'?" Charlotte replied.

"_Hmm…This may work to my advantage because I'm athletic, depending on what the challenge is." Janine said thoughtfully. "I know that I'll have to see the challenge first before I really know what will happen, but I know I'm more athletic than almost everyone left, and Charlotte's my only real competition in that department."_

"We may as well head out and get this over with." Ruth sighed.

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The four players from camp emerged from the jungle and into a clearing. They walked over to the golden mat on the ground and stepped on.

"Before we begin, let's bring back Nelson, whom is returning from Exile Island." SSBFreak said.

Nelson came walking in from the side and waved to everyone else as he joined the line to form the final five again.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will see how athletic you are with climbing through a hole in a wall." SSBFreak explained. Everyone suddenly saw a track no longer than fifty feet long behind the host. However, it had four large walls at different points along it, the only way through them being covered-up holes. "Your mission here is simple: Get to the other side of the track in the fastest time. However, you have to climb through four holes in the walls we've set up along the way. And let me say right now that the covers over the holes require a lot of force to get through. The person to get through all four holes and make it to the other side in the fastest time will win Immunity and be safe from tonight's Tribal Council."

Everyone looked at each other, knowing this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.

"Charlotte, you won the advantage in the Reward Challenge." SSBFreak explained. "Here's your advantage: You have one-less hole to climb through."

Charlotte smirked. "That's all I need." She replied.

"Charlotte, you will be going first, so if you'll get into position, we can start."

Charlotte quickly went to the start of the track as the first of the four walls was removed from the course. Charlotte gave a smirk as she prepared to run.

"Okay, for Immunity…" SSBFreak said. "Go!!"

Charlotte took off running, flying past the area where the first wall had been. Within seconds, Charlotte was at her first wall (which would be everyone else's second). Charlotte reached through the small hole in the wall and found that she had to force the covering apart on the other side with a lot of her strength.

"Ugh…These coverings are made of strong stuff." Charlotte said to herself as she pushed her arm through the hole. She grabbed the other side of the wall, which helped pull her through the hole. It took a little bit to get her feet on the ground since Charlotte's legs got stuck for a few seconds, but the German woman was soon on her feet and dashing towards the third wall.

"You're currently at fifteen seconds, Charlotte." SSBFreak said.

Charlotte wasted no time in getting to work on the second hole. Charlotte grunted in annoyance as it took her all of her might to force her way through the wall, but the German woman managed to do so anyway. Like with the previous wall, Charlotte got her legs stuck initially, but was soon on her feet and heading to her final obstacle.

"You're now at forty-five seconds, Charlotte." SSBFreak reminded.

"Don't rush me!" Charlotte warned as she reached her final obstacle and stuck her arm through the hole, quickly finding that the final wall's cover was a lot sturdier than the previous two. Even through this, Charlotte managed to worm her way through the hole, even though it took her twice as long to do it this time around. Charlotte finally landed on the ground, but when she did, she quickly got up and raced to the end of the track, completing her run.

"Charlotte has set the time to beat at one minute and twenty seconds." SSBFreak said.

"It took me that long to get through the last obstacle?" Charlotte asked.

"Anita, you're next."

The blonde gulped as she watched the first wall getting moved back into place. Charlotte had just managed to score an impressive time and she wasn't sure if she could beat it.

"Okay. Ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"

Anita quickly ran over to the first wall and desperately climbed through the hole, pushing the covering out of way as hard as she could. Anita growled as she pushed her way through the hole, and when she did, she fell flat on her face.

"You're at ten seconds, Anita." SSBFreak said.

Thinking quickly, Anita sprang back to her feet and scrambled over to the second wall. Anita found that the second wall was harder to get through than the first due to a sturdier covering, but the blonde kept pushing forward. It took a bit, but Anita managed to work her way through the hole.

"Thirty seconds!" SSBFreak said.

This was where Anita started to panic. The blonde raced over to the third wall and practically threw herself at it, trying to get through the hole as quickly as she could. The holes were getting harder and harder to get through, but that just gave Anita more determination. The blonde girl managed to get through the hole and landed on her face again.

Anita didn't bother waiting for SSSBFreak this time, as she was on her feet instantly and over to the final wall. It took all of her might (and then some) to work her way past the coverings over the last hole, but Anita finally managed to work her way through it. Once she was on the ground, Anita quickly went to the end of the track, ending her run.

"Anita, your time was one minute and forty seconds, not enough to catch Charlotte." SSBFreak said. "Charlotte still leads."

Ruth groaned as she looked at the four walls that were ahead of her. She knew that this wasn't going to go over well, but she prepared herself nevertheless.

"Ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"

Ruth took off and darted over to the first wall. The elderly Raposa struggled a bit, but she was able to work her way through the first hole easier since it was actually close to her height. Ruth still landed on the other side of the wall awkwardly, but it didn't stop her from getting to her feet again.

"Twenty seconds, Ruth!" SSBFreak said.

"I'd better block him out." Ruth muttered to herself as she went over to the second wall to attempt to make up for lost time. Once she reached the wall, Ruth tried to work her way through the hole, having a bit of a harder time with it. Even still, Ruth pressed on and managed to get through, landing on the other side of the wall.

Ruth didn't hear SSBFreak say how long she had taken and instead jogged over to the third wall. The elderly player squeezed her way through the third hole, but it took a fair amount of effort in order to do it. Ruth eventually made it through and landed on the other side.

Ruth continued to block out the host as she ran over to the last wall. Like Charlotte and Anita, Ruth found that the fourth wall was the hardest to get through. Even through this, Ruth still managed to make it through, although it took a lot of effort on her part. Once she was through, Ruth rushed over to the end of the track.

"I'm sorry, Ruth. Your time was two minutes and ten seconds, not nearly enough to beat Charlotte." SSBFreak said.

Janine was next. Unlike Anita and Ruth, she looked pumped. The cavewoman cracked her knuckles in preparation.

"Ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"

Janine wasted no time in running over to the first wall. Using her strength, Janine easily crawled through the hole and made it across in record time.

"Six seconds!" SSBFreak announced.

Janine wasn't paying attention and ran over to the second wall. Shoving her arm through the covering, Janine was able to pull herself through it almost as easily as the first hole. Janine stumbled a bit once she landed on the other side, but was able to keep herself from falling over.

"Twenty seconds!"

The cavewoman quickly reached the third wall and got to work. The third wall was definitely harder to get through, even for Janine, but this did little to stop the cavewoman from getting through. It took her a bit and her legs got gaught on the way through, but Janine otherwise got through with little problems.

"Forty seconds!"

Knowing that it would be close, Janine raced to the final wall and started climbing through. It took a fair amount of effort to get past the hole's coverings, but once Janine was able to get her torso through, all she needed to do was pulled her long legs through the hole to complete the task. Janine quickly went to the end of the track.

"Janine, your final time was one minute and five seconds." SSBFreak said. "You now lead."

"Fantastic." Janine nodded.

Nelson was the last one to go. The lanky nerd knew he'd have a hard battle ahead of him, but he wasn't about to let it distract him.

"Ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"

Nelson took off running and quickly made it to the first wall. The dark-haired man clambered his way through the hole, but it took a bit of effort to do it. When Nelson was finally able to get through the hole, he landed on his face in surprise.

"Ten seconds!"

Getting to his feet, Nelson ran to the second wall to attempt the next obstacle. Although the second hole gave him a bit of trouble, Nelson was able to get through it relatively quickly. Like with the first hole, he fell flat on his face afterwards.

"Thirty-five seconds!"

Not one to give up, Nelson jumped to his feet and scrambled over to the third wall. The coverings were obviously harder to get through by this point, but Nelson was still able to get through it okay. That being said, it still took him a bit to do it.

"Fifty seconds!"

Nelson, knowing it would be close, ran over to the last wall and struggled to get through. It took a lot of effort from the lanky man, but Nelson was finally able to get through. Nelson landed on the other side of the wall and quickly raced to the end of the track to end his run.

"Nelson, the time to beat was one minute and five seconds." SSBFreak said. "You got one minute and…Twenty-five seconds! It's not enough! Janine wins Immunity!"

Janine cheered as the others looked extremely disappointed.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity again, Janine." SSBFreak said as he placed the headdress on Janine's head. "You now have a one-in-four shot at winning the game."

"It feels great knowing it." Janine said.

SSBFreak turned to the other four players. "However, I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council tonight, where one more of you will be voted out of the game." He explained. "Here's the biggest question: Who do you NOT want to go in the finals against? I'll give you guys the rest of the day to make your decision, so for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_Janine won Immunity again. Not that it matters so long as the others didn't win it. Now we can see if Nelson will vote with us." Charlotte explained. "If we can make the vote 3-2 Ruth, then Anita will be easy pickings the next time we go."_

"Man. This is the second time I've won Immunity." Janine said. "It feels good."

"This is good for us." Charlotte said. "If we can get Nelson to vote for us, Ruth will be blindsided 3-2 and-"

"Anita."

Charlotte looked at the smirking Janine. "Janine, we need to vote Ruth." She said.

"Charlotte, who has Immunity?" Janine quizzed. "They're gunning for you and I'm voting Anita."

"_Charlotte knows that she needs me on this one because I have Immunity and that leaves her as the only other target." Janine reminded. "At least it's a sure-fire way of getting her to vote for who I want."_

Meanwhile, Ruth and Anita were talking with Nelson, trying to get him to vote with them.

"Nelson, Anita saw Charlotte talking to you." Ruth explained. "You can't vote with them. You know they'll both get rid of you the instant they have the chance."

"I know, but then again, we're all in danger at this point." Nelson reasoned. "I mean, you're just as big of a strategic threat as Charlotte is."

"_I was afraid this would happen. Nelson's time alone on Exile has given him time to ponder Charlotte's offer, which is exactly what Anita and I DON'T want to happen." Ruth rolled her eyes. "We need to try extra-hard to retain Nelson's vote, because we need it now more than ever at this point."_

"_I r-really hope we can g-get Nelson's vote back. H-He's spent t-too long pondering o-over things and it's m-making us scared." Anita said. "W-We need to vote out C-Charlotte, and we can't d-do that without Nelson. I j-just hope he realizes it."_

"J-Just…Just p-please vote with us, Nelson." Anita pleaded. "Charlotte i-isn't trustworthy."

Nelson sighed. "I know. I'm sorry girls, but the best I can give you is that I'll think about it." He said.

"Y-You don't have m-much time." Anita warned.

With that, Ruth and Anita left Nelson alone. After they did, Nelson saw Charlotte approaching from another direction. The lanky nerd sighed.

"_All I can say is that this is going to be a freaking LONG Tribal Council." Nelson moaned._

**(Tribal Council)**

The five remaining players entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. They all walked over to their stumps and sat down, waiting the council to start up.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Roscoe, Mason, Jack, Oiler and Molly, whom was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

A still-cross Molly followed the boys into Tribal Council. Because she had been exposed, Molly had abandoned her bright and cheerful colours and was now wearing a black tank-top and a black skirt. The jury sat down on their bench across the hut.

"They're just here to watch the outcome. You are not to address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak explained. "Nelson, it seems that you were the only one in the final ten that knew Molly wasn't what she seemed. What tipped you off?"

"We kept losing our strongest players pre-merge while Molly somehow managed to escape unharmed each time." Nelson said, folding his arms. "I knew something was up when Shamus was blindsided and I had a feeling Molly was responsible when we hit the merge."

"You didn't tell anyone?"

"No. Who would they believe? A cheerful little girl or someone accusing her of being a devil in disguise?"

"The sneaky little twerp." Molly growled. "I should have taken him out when I had the chance."

Roscoe looked at Jack. "We REALLY screwed up, man." He said. Jack nodded.

"Janine, this is the second time you won Immunity and things are getting down to the wire." SSBFreak said. "Are you a threat?"

"We all are at this point. I'm a physical threat, Anita's a jury threat and everyone else is a strategic threat." Janine replied. "As of now, I'd say that it's really anyone's game at this point."

"You think you can win?"

"Like I said, it's anyone's game."

"I could have won if I was still there." Mason said.

"No. I would have dumped you by now." Molly muttered.

"Anita, you were a target on Day 3, and here you are in the final five." SSBFreak said. "Are you surprised?"

"I-I got real lucky and m-made some friends that h-helped me get through the g-game after m-my little problem." Anita admitted. "I-It's been a long, h-hard road, but it's been good in the end."

"Charlotte, who's going home?" SSBFreak asked.

"I know that I'm a target because Janine has Immunity." Charlotte replied. "However, the vote rests in the hands of one person. It could go either way depending on how he's feeling."

"Nelson's in charge of the vote?" Jack asked with a smirk. "Sweet. This could be good."

"Ruth, after this, there are three days left in the competition." SSBFreak explained. "What are your thoughts?"

"In all honesty, the only thing I'm thinking about is that Final Tribal Council." Ruth admitted. "We've all got equal chances of making it there, so it will be an interesting ride to say the least."

"Do you think you can make it there?"

"That's what we're all hoping." Ruth shrugged.

"Well, I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before we vote, I have to ask. Janine, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"

"This late in the game? Yes."

"With that, Janine is immune and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Ruth, you're up."

Ruth got up and walked out of the hut to go to the table. "I just hope that this works." She said as she scribbled a name down and placed it into the urn.

Charlotte shook her head as she wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I would much rather vote for Ruth, but I wouldn't have the majority." She said, having voted for Anita.

Anita quickly wrote a name down and turned her ballot around, revealing Charlotte's name. "P-Please come through for us, Nelson." She said as she placed her ballot into the urn.

Janine gave a smirk as she wrote a name down. "Finally I get to control a vote." She said as she voted and left the table to return to the hut.

"Man. I…I don't know." Nelson said as he approached the table. "How am I going to decide this?" He sighed as he finally wrote a name down and stuck it into the jar.

Once everyone had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote, Charlotte." Charlotte narrowed her eyes.

"Anita." Anita bit her lip.

"Anita." "This is going to be close." Oiler said from the bench.

"Charlotte. That's two votes for Anita and two for Charlotte." The two in question glanced at each other, knowing Nelson's vote would decide it. "Last vote, sixth member of the jury and fourteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Anita. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Anita hung her head low as Ruth looked shocked. "R-Ruth…" She said as she stood up. "…P-Please win this for me." With that, Anita grabbed her torch and approached the host.

"Anita, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Anita's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"It's…It's b-been fun." Anita said as she walked out of Tribal Council, vanishing from sight.

Once Anita was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining four players. "Anita is gone and the jury is almost complete. It's almost time for the finale, but we still have three more days." He said. "You guys still have more challenges ahead of you, so I suggest that you prepare yourself for anything. For now, you can all head back to camp."

The four finalists stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Everyone knew that they had reached the finals and that all alliances would probably be called off at this point. However, the biggest thing on everyone's mind was that it was still anyone's game to win…

"_M-Man…So close. I c-can't believe I lasted this long t-though. I r-really surprised myself a-and I think my f-fears may be s-subsiding, at least for n-now." Anita admitted. "It s-should be obvious who's g-getting my vote, but I j-just hope that she m-makes the finals. I n-need to work on a f-few questions to p-prepare myself for then…"_

**Voting History:**

**Anita – Charlotte, Janine and Nelson**

**Charlotte – Anita and Ruth**

Author's Note: Anita was one of the stars of the story (and was the first character I included). However, I knew that she lacked the complexity to win in the end, so she became expendable when she didn't become important anymore. She WAS intended to go a spot further than this, but I switched due to storyline reasons.


	15. Day 37

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

Ruth didn't look especially happy after returning to camp with the other three members of the final four. Judging by the outcome of the previous Tribal Council, this was to be expected.

"_Anita's gone because Nelson voted against us, and he voted against us because Charlotte planted ideas into his head." Ruth said, looking cross. "I don't know whether I should be mad at Nelson for doing this or Charlotte for being the one responsible in the first place."_

"Nelson, why'd you vote for Anita?" Ruth asked. "You KNOW Charlotte is liable to get rid of you, right?"

"I'm sorry, Ruth. I just know that Anita was the biggest jury threat." Nelson replied.

"_I voted for Anita because she's surely win if she made the finals. With her past and everything she had gone through, the majority would most-likely give her a sympathy vote." Nelson reasoned. "I hope I can redeem myself in her eyes by saying that it was justified, because I'm sure Anita wouldn't vote for me otherwise."_

Meanwhile, Janine approached Charlotte, looking a little stunned.

"I can't believe that you actually managed to get Nelson to vote with us." Janine said.

"Surprised that I survived Tribal Council?" Charlotte asked with a smirk.

"Yes, actually." Janine sighed. "Well, now what? We can either get Nelson to vote out Ruth or end up in a tie."

"I'm aware of that."

"_We managed to survive a crucial Tribal Council, and that means we're still alive for another round." Charlotte explained. "However, the contest's still not over. Our next target is Ruth and I know we probably won't get any other chances if she doesn't win Immunity."_

"I suppose the only thing we can do now is head to bed and prepare for tomorrow." Janine suggested. "We're approaching the end, so we may have a challenge."

"Indeed. And by now, the challenges are getting even more crucial." Charlotte agreed.

"_Anita's gone, and that means that the biggest jury threat in the game is out. Now I just need to focus on the strategic threats." Janine said. "The biggest problem is that all of the others are roughly the same threat level when it comes to strategy. I need to figure out which one I'll have the easiest time going against in the finals."_

The final four went to bed, preparing for the next day and the challenge that came with it.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 37)**

"_I know Ruth is probably angry at me for voting out Anita, but I want to tell her that I'll be voting for Charlotte next." Nelson said. "Out of the three, I feel that she's the biggest strategic threat, then Ruth, then Janine. I don't know what type of Immunity Challenge is next, but I just hope someone other than Charlotte will win."_

"So you say you're going to vote for Charlotte." Ruth said.

"Yes. Believe me, I think she's the biggest threat left." Nelson nodded.

"Well, I believed you before." Ruth sighed. "And look what happened to Anita."

"Ruth, it was pure strategy." Nelson insisted.

As Nelson continued to talk to Ruth, Charlotte sat back, watching from afar. She gave a smirk.

"_This worked out better than I thought. In voting out Anita, I think I may have helped rapture Ruth's trust in Nelson." Charlotte said. "I still think it would have been better if Anita was still here, because then this would have been even better. However, you take what you get in a game like this and I think this will definitely prove to be good."_

_Ruth sat in front of the camera and sighed sadly. "If voting out Anita was strategy, then I'm afraid I've lost faith in Nelson." She said. "I honestly thought he would stick with us for the competition, and I paid for it by losing my alliance member."_

Meanwhile, Janine was walking up to the treemail box alone. She needed the time to herself to think about outcomes for the next Tribal Council.

"_I never would have thought I could have had this much power this late in the game. Someone as strong as I am would most-likely have been voted out when the merge hit." Janine said. "However, now that I'm in the final four with three other strategic threats, I need to decide on targets. Who's a bigger threat for the finals?"_

Janine reached into the treemail box and pulled out an envelope. "Well, that was fast." She said as she went back to camp. "We've got treemail, guys."

"Time for the next challenge already?" Charlotte asked.

"Uh…Not yet." Janine responded. "It says 'Follow the map and pay your respects to those that have fallen before you. After that, prepare for your next Immunity Challenge'."

"I've always liked this part." Ruth smiled. "It'll be good to reminisce about the others."

"Yeah. We may as well head out and start." Nelson said.

**(Path of Fallen Comrades)**

The final four walked onto a jungle path that winded around the trees several times. Sitting at the sides of the path were fourteen unlit torches, each one with a picture of an eliminated contestant beside it.

"Well, here we are." Janine said.

"Are we supposed to do anything to the torches after we pay our respects?" Nelson asked.

"No. It just says that we can just move onto the next one." Janine shook her head after reading the note again.

"Well, I say we get started." Ruth said. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

Everyone else agreed as they approached the first unlit torch. Hey saw the frowning chimp on the picture and their expressions quickly turned sour.

"I don't regret voting off Buzz in the slightest." Ruth folded her arms. "He got what was coming to him."

"I hated that twerp." Janine growled. "He was negative the entire time."

"I'm just glad I didn't end up on his team, because from what we heard of him at the first challenge, he wasn't exactly pleasant." Nelson said.

"Believe me, you were the luckiest of the four of us in that department." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Can we please move on, now?" Ruth asked as she walked ahead. The others followed.

"_I hate my entire team for voting me out first. If I ever see any of them again, it'll be too soon." Buzz grunted. "Even after a month, I still fail to see their logic."_

Nelson sighed when he saw Urtha's picture by the next torch. "Poor Urtha." He said.

"How did she get targeted first on your tribe?" Charlotte asked.

"Molly spread a rumour that she was throwing challenges." Nelson replied. "She got Mason, Jack, Roscoe and even Ginny to vote with her."

"Crafty idea, but too bad it was against your strongest player." Ruth sighed.

"I really would have liked to go against her more than I did." Janine shook her head as everyone walked past Urtha's torch. "I didn't consider Mason a rival at all."

"_I didn't deserve to be voted out first on my tribe. I was too much of an asset to them." Urtha sighed. "It was times like that that makes me wish I was put onto the other tribe."_

The picture of a grinning, black-haired woman was next. Janine couldn't help but smirk. "Lynn was fun to have around. I have to admit that." She said.

"Then why'd you vote her off?" Ruth challenged.

"Charlotte said it was either her or Oiler." Janine scratched her head.

"I wish I could have gotten to know Lynn more." Nelson nodded. "She looked like she could have been a good player."

"She was. Believe me." Ruth said as the group walked forward.

"_It sucked being voted out like I did more because of the fact that Ruth and Anita were on their own after I was gone." Lynn shrugged. "I lasted a week, but I wish I could have gone further. I guess there are just things you can't change."  
_

Vikki was up next. Charlotte shook her head as she looked at the cowgirl's picture. "Vikki thought she could play us all." She said. "I'm glad we all proved her wrong."

"What was the big problem, anyway?" Nelson asked.

"Vikki was abusing her swing vote power and didn't choose a side." Janine replied. "She tried to further herself by letting us tear each other apart."

"A clever idea, but she made the wrong people mad." Charlotte said.

"It's too bad. She otherwise seemed like an okay person." Ruth shrugged as the four went further.

"_My plan didn't work as well as I had thought, but I enjoyed my time out here, partner." Vikki admitted. "If I could play differently, at least I know what I did wrong so I wouldn't make the same mistake twice."_

"I take it Shamus was another victim to Molly's schemes?" Ruth asked as the quartet approached a picture of a pirate.

"Yes. Once again, she got the majority to vote him off and leave me high and dry." Nelson shook his head.

"What did she hope to gain from voting out her team's strongest players first?" Janine asked.

"It was more the risk of letting her secret out into the open, as far as I'm concerned." Nelson sighed. "At least I can say that I avenged him by outlasting Molly."

"It has to account for something, I suppose." Ruth shrugged as the group continued.

"_I ended up on the wrong tribe. I had to have. That Molly ruined my chances at the game and I'm not letting it go." Shamus said defiantly. "I wish I could turn back time and get back at her, but I guess it's just not meant to be."_

Brick's picture was up next, garnering mixed reactions from the finalists.

"It's too bad that Brick had to be pulled from the game." Ruth sighed. "It's always depressing to see someone's chances die like that."

"He probably would have been a target anyway though, right?" Charlotte asked.

"I dunno. He sold Ginny and I out so he could join a bigger alliance." Nelson shook his head. "I still think we would have been targeted first regardless."

"Man. I never would have guessed that he'd be one to do that." Janine noted.

"We've all learned from experience that things aren't always what they seem." Nelson said as he walked on. The three women looked at each other, wondering if Nelson actually had a point.

"_I got careless and it cost me. It sucks, but there's nothing I can do to change it." Brick admitted sadly. "It's too bad, because I totally could have gone all the way with my alliance."_

The four saw Ginny's picture approaching. Charlotte shook her head. "Crazy woman part two." She said. "Her obsession with blue had to have been her downfall."

"That may be so, but I still owe Ginny big time." Nelson said.

"Whatever for?"

"She gave me her blue powder when she left and I used it to make the fake idol that Molly found." Nelson replied with a grin. "So, in a way, she helped me exact revenge on her."

"Interesting way of putting it." Ruth shrugged. "Even still, I don't think she would have lasted much further if she wasn't targeted like that."

"Probably not, but I still loved having her around when I got to know her." Nelson admitted.

"_My only regret is that I wasn't able to spread the joy of blue to the others as much as I would have liked." Ginny said. "That being said, I enjoyed my time, even if I was surrounded by a bunch of blue-haters…"_

Charlotte frowned when she saw Krash's picture coming up. "Krash was the only real ally I had out here." She said. "Why did you guys vote him off?"

"Because you were getting too comfortable." Janine said. "You were the better player, so we kept you."

"It's too bad, because I was truly sorry for Krash when I voted him out." Ruth sighed.

"He looks like he could have been fun to have around." Nelson said.

"He made the camp enjoyable." Ruth admitted. "I was actually glad we didn't have to go back to the camp after voting him out."

"Because everything would remind us of him. I know." Janine nodded as the group walked on.

"_I enjoyed myself out here and I would totally do it again. Just make sure I'm not with a bunch of strategy-bots next time, okay?" Krash asked. "My head's still reeling from all that planning and thinking…"_

Roscoe was next and everyone was instantly reminded of that particular Tribal Council.

"That was a chaotic night." Charlotte said. "How was everyone there one vote away from elimination?"

"Probably because there was so much rivalry and hatred amongst everyone that it was clouding everyone's judgment." Nelson said.

"Do we even know who VOTED Roscoe out?" Charlotte asked, scratching her head.

"Oh. That was Anita and I." Ruth said. "We needed to split his and Jack's alliance. I'd say it worked."

"Probably a little too well." Janine shook her head.

"_I came into this with a plan to make the finals, and was instead the first person voted out at the merge." Roscoe moaned. "Not exactly the highlight of my life, but I had a good time out here. I think I surprised a few people."_

Janine rolled her eyes when she saw who was next. "What can you say about Mason?" She asked.

"Biggest tool EVER?" Charlotte asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"…Yeah. That pretty well sums it up."

"He annoyed everyone with his stories of survival." Nelson shook his head. "He was obviously saying he was a lot better than he really was."

"Judging by how well he fared in challenges, I can't say I'm surprised." Charlotte said.

"The only good thing I can say about Mason is that he got Anita to reveal to us why she was so traumatized." Ruth said. "I have to admit that no one else could do that."

"And it ended up leading to his elimination." Janine shook her head as the four walked on.

"_I was freaking robbed. I was clearly the strongest and most-athletic person left when I was ousted." Mason grumbled. "I hope the others are kicking themselves for their choice, because I really think I could have won."_

Nelson sighed when he saw who was next. "Out of Molly's alliance, I liked Jack the most." He said.

"Why's that? He seemed like he was pretty sneaky." Ruth noted.

"But he was still a challenge threat." Charlotte reminded. "No matter what challenge we did, he always placed second."

"I guess it would have been only a matter of time until he won." Janine added.

"But he seemed sympathetic towards me for getting rid of all my allies pre-merge." Nelson replied. "I knew that it was still my mission to outlast everyone on Molly's alliance, but I was trying to keep Jack around the longest out of them."

"More out of respect for an opponent, I take it?" Janine asked with a smirk.

"Yeah. That pretty much covers it." Nelson nodded as the group went on.

"_I didn't win, but I made the final eight. I guess that's an accomplishment in itself." Jack said. "At least I can tell Marty that I did a few things that he didn't, and now I'll be voting for a potential winner."_

Oiler's picture was next and Janine's smile vanished. "Oiler's elimination made me realize how much you guys would do to win." She said.

"Your alliance was too close." Charlotte replied. "And seeing as how you had Immunity at the time, we had to vote out Oiler."

"Regardless, after that I made a note not to put all my trust in anyone out here." Janine said.

"I think you're taking it a little too far." Ruth reasoned. "We voted him out because otherwise we would have been in a minority."

"We had to even the playing field a bit." Nelson added.

Janine sighed. "I get your point and I understand your strategy." She said as the group walked on. "It doesn't make me less mad, though."

"_I really surprised myself. I was imagining myself as an early boot when the game started." Oiler said. "I guess it just goes to show that a crash dummy is capable of Survivor even if his limbs keep falling off."_

Nelson gave a triumphant smirk as he approached Molly's picture. "Getting rid of Molly and exacting revenge was the best moment of my life." He said.

"I still can't believe she was leading everyone on like that." Janine shook her head.

"She's a lot more crafty than I gave her credit for." Charlotte said. "I thought she made the merge by being nice."

"She did. That was exactly her plan." Nelson replied. "No one realized they were being played until it was too late, unfortunately."

"But how did she expect to win if she kept up the act?" Ruth asked. "We would have voted her out as a jury threat anyway."

"We all know that, but I think that was the one part of Molly's strategy she hadn't thought about." Nelson gave a shrug.

"Just goes to show that you can't overlook anything in a game like this." Charlotte said.

"_I deserve the million. I played the best game and was taken out by someone that should have been eliminated several Tribal Councils before." Molly insisted. "I don't care who wins, because I'm still ten times more worthy than any of them will be."_

Anita's picture was the last on the trail. Ruth looked down. "Poor Anita. She came a long way only to fall just short." She said.

"She was extremely nice and had a tragic past." Charlotte said. "This made her the biggest jury threat in the game."

"I know you won't admit it, but Charlotte's right." Janine added, folding her arms.

Ruth sighed. "It's just that I spent an entire month out here with her." She said. "I felt as if she was the daughter I never had."

"Unfortunately, this is Survivor." Nelson said. "Only one of us can win."

"Indeed. Seventeen people have to lose in order for one person to win." Charlotte nodded.

"_I-I made it to the final f-five. T-That's something I n-never thought c-could be possible, especially a-after being targeted early." Anita admitted. "I-I'll be t-taking away a l-lot of memories from this, believe me."_

The final four reached the end of the path and found themselves at the exit of the jungle. Curiously, everyone stepped through the opening in the trees…

**(Immunity Challenge)**

…And into a clearing. The final four looked around and quickly spotted their mat on the ground. The final four walked over and stepped on, waiting for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will see how well you can do finding a needle in a haystack." SSBFreak said. The four saw a lone treasure chest sitting behind the host, and a large pile of keys sitting in front of it, about twenty feet away from it. "Behind me, there is a pile of literally hundreds of keys. However, only one key in that pile will unlock the chest, which is your main objective. However, remember that you can only carry one key at a time. The person that finds the correct key and unlocks the chest will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

The four looked at each other nervously, knowing that the game wouldn't play on anyone's skills and it was literally possible for anyone to win in a game of luck.

"Once I start the challenge, you can run over to the pile and attempt to unlock the chest. So for Immunity, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"

The final four raced past the host and scrambled over to the pile of keys. Charlotte had the faster draw and grabbed a key without stopping as the others stopped to grab theirs. Charlotte raced over to the chest and jammed her key into the slot, but couldn't move it.

The German woman growled as she tossed the worthless key to the side and raced back to the pile. This gave Janine the chance to attempt to unlock the chest, but found that the key wouldn't even fit into the keyhole.

"Hey! It's too big!" Janine said as she tossed the key aside. "I thought they'd be the same size!"

Nelson attempted to unlock the chest, but was unable to open it. "Maybe I should try something…" He mused as he rushed back to the pile.

Ruth arrived at the chest as Charlotte got back to the pile of keys and grabbed another key. The elderly Raposa tried to unlock the chest, but failed to do it. "I can tell this is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack." She said to herself.

As Charlotte ran back to the chest, Janine had grabbed her second key and Nelson had gotten back to the pile. Rather than grabbing one from off the pile, Nelson stuck his hand into the pile and pulled a key from within.

"Logically, they wouldn't put the correct key on top of the pile." Nelson said to himself. "They want the challenge to last as long as they can."

By the time Ruth arrived at the pile, Charlotte was coming back, having failed to unlock the chest again. Ruth grabbed another key and raced back to the chest.

The four continued to run back and forth between the chest and the pile of keys. Time went on and everyone had tried to unlock the chest several times, but no one had had any luck thus far. Through this, SSBFreak stood back, watching the scene.

"Judging by the pile of discarded keys, you guys have in total made around thirty attempts to unlock the chest." SSBFreak said. "Charlotte, how frustrating do you think the challenge will be?"

Charlotte growled as she arrived at the pile of keys again. "I'm more annoyed than anything right now, comrade." She said.

"Nelson, you're trying something that none of the others are doing by just sticking your arm into the key pile like that." SSBFreak noted. "What are you trying to accomplish?"

"Do you think I'd reveal my strategy when it's anyone's game at this point?!" Nelson challenged as he pulled another key from somewhere in the middle of the pile.

Janine tried to unlock the chest, only to see that the key was far too small for the keyhole. "Okay, seriously! How am I supposed to unlock this thing when all the keys I grab are either too big or too small?!" She asked as she tossed the key aside.

"We knew that including different-sized keys would make things interesting." SSBFreak said with a smirk. "I was right."

"Yeah. Watching four people try to unlock a treasure chest is just RIVETING." Janine rolled her eyes.

"Hey, what better challenge than one that doesn't play to anyone's strengths?" The host shrugged before continuing. "What's your strategy in this game, Ruth?"

"What strategy? The only thing we even do is hope that we have the right key." Ruth sighed as she was running back to the pile for another key.

The four continued to run back and forth, desperately hoping that the key they collected was the one to unlock the chest. This continued for a while and so far no one had hit any real luck.

Janine finally managed to get a key that fit into the keyhole, but it didn't do anything to unlock the chest. The cavewoman growled as she threw the key into the discard pile with the others. "This has to be the most frustrating challenge we've had yet!" She said.

Ruth pulled another key from the pile and ran over to the chest, arriving just as Nelson turned to go get another key. "I just hope this works. I've lost track of how long we've been going." She said as she stuck the key into the keyhole, only to discover that it wasn't the right one.

Nelson continued to stick to his strategy of taking keys from the middle of the pile, even though he hadn't had success thus far. "The key has to be close to the bottom of the pile." He said as he finally pulled a key from the pile.

When Charlotte realized that she had once again grabbed the wrong key, she quickly returned to the pile. "This is getting old fast." She said. "How can there only be one key that works in that entire pile?!"

"Did I say that?" SSBFreak asked.

"Uh…Yes, you did." Nelson said, taking a moment to look at the host.

"You mean that there's actually more than one key that works?" Janine asked.

"Nope. There's just one." SSBFreak chuckled.

Janine growled. "Thanks for getting my hopes up, jerk."

As the four continued to search the pile of keys for the correct match, SSBFreak looked at the discard pile and saw that it was steadily growing. "It looks like you guys are approaching a total of one hundred bad keys." He noted. "Nelson, how long do you think it will take for someone to win?"

"As long as it takes!" Nelson replied. "Heck, we could whittle this pile down to the last key and STILL not have opened it!"

"PLEASE don't say that!" Ruth pleaded. "We could be out here doing this all day!"

"Janine, you guys have gone through almost one-third of the pile and you still haven't found the right key." SSBFreak said. "Are you getting frustrated yet?"

"I'm getting there. The tediousness of the challenge is beginning to take its toll." Janine shook her head.

"From the sound of your voice, you're starting to get mad." SSBFreak taunted.

"And believe me, you don't want to know what I'm thinking right now." Janine shot back.

SSBFreak scratched his head, shrugged and went on. "Ruth, you've been at a disadvantage in several challenges, so how does it feel to know that you're in a challenge that doesn't benefit anyone?" He asked.

"It makes me feel a little better knowing that the playing field is leveled." Ruth muttered as she tossed a bad key aside. "It's not making me less frustrated at the challenge though! How many keys are there?!"

"In total? Three hundred." SSBFreak replied.

"That does little to make me feel better!"

"Charlotte, what's going through your mind right now?" SSBFreak continued.

"How much I hate these needle-in-a-haystack challenges." Charlotte growled. "These challenges are so tedious and I hate trying to find the one thing that helps me win in a mess like this."

"You think you can still win, though?"

"Definitely. I just need the right key, no matter how long it will take." Charlotte nodded.

The four continued to grab keys and attempt to unlock the chest. By now, they were all grabbing keys from everywhere on the dwindling pile. The only obvious exception was Nelson, who was still using his strategy of reaching into the middle of the pile. Needless to say, everyone was beginning to get annoyed with how they still hadn't managed to find the right key yet.

"We must have been going at this stupid challenge for at least an hour…" Charlotte muttered under her breath as she went back to the pile. "How much longer is this going to take?"

Nelson stuck a key into the keyhole, but it wouldn't even fit. "Why is my strategy not working?" He asked himself as he tossed the key aside. "I thought for sure I'd have found it by now."

Janine reached into the pile and pulled out another key. Giving the key a quick inspection, she tossed it aside. "That's far too big. It won't fit." She said.

"How would you know that?" Ruth asked.

"I've found enough keys that are too big to fit into the hole. That one's too big." Janine shook her head.

Ruth shrugged and pulled a key from the pile. "This is so frustrating." She said. "How could a challenge like this be so nerve-wracking?!"

"You guys have gone through almost half the pile by now." SSBFreak said as he lifted an eyebrow. "Seriously, I'm surprised. I thought you guys would have found it by now."

"You have one key in a sea of three-hundred!" Nelson insisted. "How did you actually expect us to be done this quickly?!"

"Nelson, it appears that your strategy isn't working, so why do you keep doing it?" SSBFreak asked.

"Because this is logically the best place to put the needle in the haystack!" Nelson replied.

"Charlotte, you look extremely frustrated at this point." SSBFreak noted. "Do you hate the challenges like this THAT much?"

"YES!" Charlotte shouted. "Trying to do a challenge like this puts so much strain on your mind because the closer you get to the end, the bigger chance someone else has at winning!"

"Janine, why are you just tossing some keys away?" SSBFreak asked.

"I started off grabbing keys that were either too big or too small for the keyhole." Janine said, her eyes narrowed, as she tossed a large key away. "Now I know when a key is too big or small just by looking at it."

Ruth had grabbed another key and ran back to the chest. The older player took a deep breath and stuck the key into the hole in the chest and experimentally twisted it…

…An unlocking sound was heard from the chest. Ruth's eyes snapped open as she grabbed the lid of the chest and threw it open, revealing the Immunity Headdress inside.

"Ruth has it! She unlocked the chest! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Ruth wins Immunity!"

Ruth cheered as she lifted the headdress into the air.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Ruth. You now have a one-in-three shot at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he placed the headdress on Ruth's head.

"Thank you." Ruth replied with a smirk.

SSBFreak turned to the other three players. "However, I will once again see all of you tonight at Tribal Council, where you will be voting out someone yet again." He explained. "After this there are only two days left, so it's best to start thinking about who would be the best to take to the end. I'll give you guys the rest of the day to come up with a decision, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_This isn't good for me. Of all times for Ruth to win Immunity, it had to have been this close to the end." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Of course, this leaves Janine and I to focus on Nelson, but even still it will only result in a tie unless we can somehow get Ruth to vote for Nelson as well."_

"How do you think we can get Ruth to target Nelson?" Charlotte asked.

"We could remind her that Nelson helped vote out Anita." Janine supplied.

"That's our biggest trump card, but I don't know if we can convince Ruth on that alone." Charlotte shook her head. "I think we'll need more than that."

"_I know Charlotte will be targeted over me because she's a bigger strategic threat. Not that I'm complaining, because I'll go further into the game." Janine shrugged. "However, I also know that Charlotte's my best chance at making the finals, so that means that we still need to join forces and take out the others."_

Meanwhile, Nelson was talking to Ruth about targets for the Tribal Council.

"Do you think we should go after Charlotte or Janine?" Nelson asked. "I say Charlotte."

"She's a bigger strategic threat. There's no doubt about that." Ruth nodded.

"_Ruth won Immunity, so that automatically puts me on the chopping block. I know she may still be mad at me, but I know that she needs me to help her outlast the others." Nelson said. "It's still anyone's game, even now. I've come this far going against the odds, and I still think that I can win if I can make that final Tribal Council."_

"After we take out Charlotte, all we need to do is keep Janine from winning the final Immunity Challenge and then we'll be the final two." Nelson said. "Sound like a plan?"

"The problem will be keeping Janine from winning that challenge, though." Ruth folded her arms. "We both know she could do a lot better than us in physical challenges."

"I know, but we can't risk Charlotte making the finals, either." Nelson rubbed the back of his head.

Ruth nodded as Nelson wandered off. After Nelson was gone, Charlotte approached Ruth.

"Ruth, I'd like to talk to you." Charlotte said.

Ruth lifted an eyebrow.

"_Charlotte told me that Nelson is a big jury threat. I'm aware of that, but I don't know if he's a bigger threat than Charlotte is herself." Ruth said. "Personally, I still think the vote would go either way, but this late in the game, it's best to think about whom the biggest jury threats are. It just depends on who I think is less-likely to win the final Immunity Challenge, and that itself is a big gamble since we have no idea what's next."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The four finalists walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Seeing that there were only four stumps to sit on now, they all sat down and waited for the council to commence.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Roscoe, Mason, Jack, Oiler, Molly and Anita, whom was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Anita strolled into the hut, following the others. The finalists saw that she was wearing a white jacket, which was opened to show the black shirt she was wearing underneath. Her long, blonde hair was now wavy. The jury sat down on the bench.

"They're just here to watch the outcome. You are not to address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak said before he started asking questions. "Ruth, at the last Tribal Council, you lost the ally you had since the beginning. How did that feel?"

"It was rough. Anita and I had spent so much time together that she had become like a daughter to me." Ruth sighed. "I was hoping to go to the end with her, but it obviously didn't turn out that way."

"So are you blaming Nelson for voting her out?"

"I actually blame Charlotte more for putting the idea into his head to begin with." Ruth rolled her eyes.

Molly, whom had been smirking, frowned. "Crap."

"I-It's good to see I'm m-missed." Anita said with a smile.

"Janine, you're the strongest person here, which would normally make you a target at the merge." SSBFreak said. "Are you at risk tonight?"

"This late in the game, we need to focus on jury threats or strategic threats." Janine replied. "Just because I'm a physical threat doesn't mean I'll automatically win the game."

"You don't think you can win the game?"

"I didn't say that." Janine insisted. "I said it didn't mean I'd win it automatically."

"Five bucks says she's trying to keep attention off herself." Roscoe muttered.

"No bet here." Jack replied.

"Nelson, how do you think the voting will go tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"It's going to be me or Charlotte because we're strategic threats." Nelson said. "From what I can tell, it's going to end up in a tie."

"Do you think you can beat Charlotte in a tiebreaker?"

"It all depends on what it is." Nelson shrugged.

"He needs to get his comeuppance." Molly said.

Oiler rolled his eyes. "Someone's bitter."

"Of COURSE I'm bitter, you idiot."

"Charlotte, do you feel that you could be eliminated tonight, this close to the final Tribal Council?" SSBFreak asked.

"Janine, Nelson and I have a one-in-three shot at getting eliminated no matter how you look at it." Charlotte replied. "Either way, someone has to be eliminated. We all think we can win, but the fact remains that one of us is going tonight."

"Do you think it will be you?"

"Like I said, we've all got an equal shot."

"She's forgetting that she and Nelson are the only targets." Jack folded his arms.

"N-No. Charlotte d-doesn't forget things that e-easily." Anita shook her head.

"Well, I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before we vote, I have to ask: Ruth, you have Immunity, but will you be giving it to someone?"

"No."

"With that, Ruth is immune and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Janine, you're up."

Janine got up and left the hut. She walked over to the table and wrote a name down. "It's all strategy." She said as she put the ballot into the urn.

Nelson wrote a name down and turned his ballot around, revealing Charlotte's name. "It's either you or me. Hopefully, I can beat you in a tiebreaker." He said.

Charlotte quickly wrote a name down and revealed it to the camera. "Consider it a compliment for me to consider you a threat." She said, having voted for Nelson.

Ruth silently walked up to the table. She took a deep breath. "I just don't know." She said finally as she wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Once all four people had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "After I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Nelson." Nelson remained silent, his gaze undeterred.

"Charlotte. That's one vote for Nelson and one for Charlotte." Charlotte also remained silent, clenching her fists.

"Nelson." Nelson held his breath. "Last vote…Seventh member of the jury and fifteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Nelson. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Tribal Council was silent. Molly gave a triumphant smirk as Nelson looked shocked at the outcome. Nelson looked at Ruth. "You…You voted for me, Ruth?" He asked.

Ruth sighed. "I'm sorry, Nelson. If it's any consolation, I did it because I knew you were a bigger threat than Charlotte." She insisted.

Nelson sighed, but formed a slight smile. "I admit it makes me feel a little better." He said as he stood up, grabbed his torch and brought it to the host.

"Nelson the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Nelson's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"See you girls tomorrow." Nelson called out as he left Tribal Council with his head held high.

Once Nelson was gone, SSBFreak looked at the remaining players. "And so ends another Tribal Council, leaving us with an all-female final three, all from the Eleda Tribe." SSBFreak noted. "However, we still have two days and one challenge left. This competition is nearing its end rapidly. I'll see you three tomorrow for the final Immunity Challenge, but for now, you can head back to camp."

The final three gathered their torches and left Tribal Council, only now realizing that the host was right. In eliminating Nelson, they were left with not only an all-female final three, but an all-Eleda one as well. They all knew the win could go to any of them at this point, and all that was lying between them and the final Tribal Council was one more challenge…

"_I'm not upset that I was eliminated like that. I don't blame Ruth for being bitter about Anita's elimination. I guess I had it coming." Nelson shrugged, smiling contently. "All in all, I'm amazed at how well I did, and I managed to outlast and expose Molly, so I'm perfectly alright with finishing fourth if I was able to do that."_

**Voting History:**

**Nelson – Charlotte, Janine and Ruth**

**Charlotte – Nelson**

Author's Note: I enjoyed writing for Nelson and his final revenge on Molly was one of my favourite parts of the season, but I knew he'd be a similar winner to Marty and that was what cost him.

Nelson was originally intended to finish fifth and Anita would be ousted here. However, I realized that I needed an Opito player to do the Fallen Comrades moment and swapped them at the last minute.


	16. Day 38

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

The remaining three players sat around the fire pit, looking at each other. It had been a long, hard road, but they had managed to make it to the final three. The only problem was that it was clear that there was a lot of tension between them, garnering mixed feelings about making it to the end with them.

"_Normally, I'd be pleased that I would have made the final three. However, looking at who I made it to the end with, I'm not particularly sure." Charlotte folded her arms. "Ruth and I have been at odds since the start and I can tell that Janine doesn't trust me like she used to. All I can say is that the last two days are going to be pretty interesting for all of us."_

"So this is it, huh?" Ruth asked. "The final three."

"I know. A female final three as well as an all-Eleda final three." Janine added with a smirk.

"I think we all agree that we made it to the end with people we wouldn't normally have taken, but there's nothing that can be done about it now." Charlotte said.

"You forget that there's still one challenge, Charlotte." Ruth reminded. "We're not in the clear yet."

"_I know voting out Nelson may not have been the best thing I could have done, but I knew he was becoming a big threat. I mean, he practically single-handedly took down Molly" Ruth said. "That being said, making the final three is an amazing accomplishment, but I'm not stopping here. We've got one more challenge and I'm going to win it."_

"So now what? We've all come this far and the only thing standing between us and the final Tribal Council is one last challenge." Janine said.

"It's obviously not going to be something that plays to our strengths." Charlotte mused. "They'll want it to be as fair as possible."

"_I'm in a bit of a problem now. Both Charlotte and Ruth are huge threats and I know at least one of them will make the final Tribal Council." Janine said. "If I make the finals against either one, I'll have a bit of work ahead of me to get people to vote against them. It's not impossible, but it'll be a challenge."_

"I suppose that the only thing we can do is anticipate the challenge and prepare for anything." Ruth suggested. "We should probably just head to bed now and then we know we'll be ready for the challenge tomorrow."

The other two women agreed and the three went to bed, knowing that the challenge the following day would be the most important one in the competition.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 38)**

Charlotte emerged from the shelter and looked around at the dwindling camp. Ruth was making a fire and Janine was down at the fishing area, trying to catch a meal. The German woman chose her target and walked towards the fire pit.

"_Making the final three is an accomplishment, but I'm more proud of the fact that I got Ruth to vote out Nelson, who she's been aligned with since the merge." Charlotte said. "I'm aware that all four of us were threats, but Ruth ended up voting out Nelson, her only real ally, out first. I need to know her logic for that, even if it helped me."_

"Hello, Ruth." Charlotte greeted.

"I suppose you want my help in targeting Janine now?" Ruth rolled her eyes.

"What? Can't I have a talk to a fellow finalist?" Charlotte asked.

"You wouldn't be talking to me unless you were looking for something." Ruth shrugged.

Charlotte sat down across from Ruth and folded her arms. "I'm just curious as to why you voted out Nelson." She said.

"He was the biggest threat. He could have won against any of us in the end." Ruth said. "At least going against you or Janine I'd have a chance."

"How is Nelson a bigger threat than us?" Charlotte challenged.

"It was because of him and him alone that Molly, obviously the sneakiest contestant ever, was eliminated." Ruth explained. "I'm sure that would garner him a couple of free jury votes."

"I suppose you may have a point." Charlotte shrugged.

"_Taking out Nelson was probably the best thing to do in terms of gameplay. Now it's possible for any of us to win." Ruth pointed out. "Out of the two of them, I'd probably take Janine to the end, if only because it would end my little feud with Charlotte. I'm sure she's thinking the same thing."_

Janine walked up to the treemail box, alone. A million thoughts were running through her head at the time, but she knew she'd have to put it all aside when the final challenge came around, which she figured would probably be pretty soon.

"_The three of us know that there's only one more challenge left. This next challenge will be the most-important of all, because the winner basically says who stays and who goes." Janine said. "Personally, I'm safe either way, because I know both Ruth and Charlotte would rather eliminate each other before taking me to the end."_

Janine opened the treemail box and pulled out an envelope. "Looks like this is it." She said to herself as she turned and walked back to camp. "The last challenge is ready." She announced.

Charlotte and Ruth came over to read the note. "What type of challenge is it?" Ruth asked.

"All it says is 'How's your balance and grip'?" Janine said.

"A combination of the two. That's never a good sign." Charlotte shook her head.

"Well, we may as well go and get this over with." Ruth suggested. "This IS the last challenge after all."

The others agreed, but all three were thinking the same thing, and that was to give it everything they had for this final challenge.

**(Immunity Challenge)**

Charlotte, Janine and Ruth emerged from a jungle and walked up a new path. At the path's end was a cliff that overlooked a waterfall, complete with a stone archway off to the side, but the final three saw their tribe mat on the ground. They went over and stood on to wait for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your final challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will be putting you into a test of grip, balance and endurance all at the same time." SSBFreak said. The final three saw that there were three ropes attached to the ceiling of the stone archway connected to the cliff. "The object of the challenge is simple, and that's to stay holding onto your rope longer than the other two. If you let go of your rope, you're out of the challenge. The last person remaining at the end, no matter how long it takes, will win the final Immunity and be safe from tonight's Tribal Council."

Charlotte, Janine and Ruth looked at each other wearily, knowing that their survival could potentially depend on their performance in this final challenge.

"If you three will get into position, we can begin." SSBFReak continued.

**(Later…)**

The final three stood on a trio of pull-away platforms, holding onto their ropes. The three contestants grabbed hold of their ropes and climbed onto them, starting the challenge. As soon as they were on, the platforms were pulled away.

"We have now officially started the challenge and the clock of endurance is ticking." SSBFreak said. "How confident in your abilities here, Charlotte?"

"I'm confident, comrade." Charlotte nodded. "All I have to do is outlast two other people to win."

"What makes you think the others will fall first?"

"I've got a lot of determination. I can stay up here as long as it takes."

"Ruth, being the oldest left, do you think that will affect your endurance?" SSBFreak asked.

"I may be older, but this is the final three. I have the determination to last." Ruth assured.

"You sound confident."

"I am."

"Janine, do you think this challenge will benefit your upper-body strength?" SSBFreak asked.

"It doesn't benefit anyone if all we have to do is hold onto a rope for dear life." Janine shook her head. "As far as I'm concerned, any of us can win."

The final three held onto their ropes, knowing that it was anyone's game. Because the three were still pretty fresh, having just been at the challenge for a few minutes, they still looked like they had a good grip and wouldn't be falling anytime soon. Time went on and the final three were all still going strong.

Taking a look at his watch, SSBFreak started asking questions again. "Well, the challenge has been going for twenty minutes and you're all still up there." He said. "Not bad, but we've still only just begun…"

"Ruth, how're you holding up?" SSBFreak asked.

"Like you said, we've only just started." Ruth assured. "I've still got a lot in me, so don't expect me to go down without a fight."

"Janine, what's your strategy in this game?" SSBFreak asked.

"In all honesty, my only strategy at this point is to do better than two other people." Janine replied. "Then again, I'm sure that's what we're all thinking."

"Charlotte, same question."

"Comrade, my strategy is to ignore everything else and get my mind set on winning the challenge." Charlotte replied. "If I clear my mind of everything other than that, I have a shot."

"How're the arms?"

"Still feeling fine." Charlotte assured with a smirk.

The final three continued to hang onto their ropes for an even longer time. As time went on, they could feel their arms starting to weaken, but they persevered, knowing that survival could depend on this challenge. Time continued to tick, starting to go slower and slower for the final three.

"You three have been going for forty minutes and no one's dropped out yet." SSBFreak noted. "However, I can see that you're starting to tire out, so I think things will be sped up fairly soon…"

"Janine, how's your strength holding up now that it's been this long?" SSBFreak continued.

"Like I said, this challenge doesn't play to any of our strengths." Janine said. "Even though I'm the strongest here, I'm starting to feel the burn a little."

"A little?"

"It's very faint, but it's still there."

"Charlotte, you're looking a little tired. You still think you can win?" SSBFreak continued on.

"Yes. All I need to do is hang on." Charlotte insisted. "It's not rocket science."

"Maybe not, but it IS a test of endurance."

"You're not helping."

"Ruth, same question." SSBFreak said.

"My arms are a little sore by now, but it's nothing I can't endure." Ruth explained. "I'm sure I can manage to get through this and win."

"Well, it's good to see that you're all still confident about your chances." SSBFreak said. "Okay. I'll come back later and see how you're feeling by then."

The challenge continued and the final three were really starting to feel pain in their arms by this point. Janine looked like she was faring the best out of the three, but even then she was still looking strained. Ruth looked like she was struggling to hold on and Charlotte looked relatively neutral. She didn't show it, but it was obvious she was struggling.

"It's officially been an hour and no one's dropped. I seriously underestimated you guys." SSBFreak said. "But even still, you guys are just delaying the inevitable."

"Don't remind us." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Janine, you look fairly concentrated. You feeling tired yet?" SSBFreak asked.

"Yes, I'm getting fatigued. However, I'm not giving up the challenge." Janine said defiantly. "I'll stay up here all day if I have to."

"You may wanna watch what you say." SSBFreak said with a smirk. "That just might happen."

"At this point, I don't care."

"Ruth, it looks like you're struggling." SSBFreak said.

"My age is finally starting to catch up to me. I'm not dropping willingly, so I won't let it stop me." Ruth insisted.

However, as soon as Ruth said that, her grip slipped. The elderly Raposa fell headlong onto the sandy ground, causing Ruth to groan as she rolled herself over.

"And Ruth is the first one to fall." SSBFreak said. "One more needs to fall in order to finish the challenge. We're halfway there."

Charlotte smirked. "Ruth is out, Janine. We did it." She said. "You want to drop out?"

"No. I want to win this one." Janine shook her head.

Charlotte rolled her eyes.

Charlotte and Janine continued to hang onto the ropes, both starting to tire out by now. Ruth watched from the ground, knowing that her fate was now out of her hands. The two remaining contestants swayed back and forth slightly as they struggled to keep their grip, but they held firm.

SSBFreak looked between the two as time went on. "It's been an hour and a half. This challenge needs to finish soon or else this day will never end." He said.

"Charlotte, what's going through your mind?" SSBFreak asked.

"I just want the challenge to end." Charlotte sighed. "My arms are numb and this challenge has gone on long enough as it is."

"Are you saying you might drop?"

"No. I'm staying up here as long as I can."

"Janine, you've been up there for a total of ninety minutes." SSBFreak noted. "Can you go all the way?"

"I know I can. I just need to outlast one more person for it to happen." Janine nodded.

"Then again, you could be that one person."

"I know. That's why I'm trying to survive as long as possible."

The two continued to hang on, their grips starting to weaken. A couple of minutes later and they were both still hanging, but by that time, one of the two suddenly lost her grip and fell down, crashing down onto the ground. SSBFreak and Ruth looked to see who had lost.

Charlotte was sitting on the ground as Janine was still hanging high and victorious.

"And that's it! Charlotte's out! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak said. "Janine wins Immunity!"

Janine cheered as she jumped down from the rope, knowing that she had just won the final challenge in the game.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Janine. You have a one-in-two chance at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he gave the Immunity Headdress to Janine.

"It's come so far to end like this…" Janine said with a smirk.

SSBFreak turned to look at Charlotte and Ruth. "However, I'll be seeing all three of you at Tribal Council tonight, where one more person will be voted out of the game." SSBFreak said. "The game is nearing its end and soon we will have our final two. It's now up to Janine to decide who she takes to the end with her. For now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_Well, Janine won Immunity. Normally, I'd say that this isn't good for me, but as long as Charlotte doesn't have Immunity, I have a chance." Ruth explained. "Janine will obviously be the only one voting tonight, so I need to make sure that she votes for Charlotte and not me. If she's still mad at her, then I think it's possible."_

"Janine, can I ask you something?" Ruth asked as she walked over to Janine, whom was sitting at the fire pit.

"You're going to want me to vote out Charlotte, aren't you?" Janine asked.

"Well, yes." Ruth nodded. "I mean, she's the only that helped eliminate Oiler."

"So did you, if I recall correctly." Janine accused.

"But Charlotte backstabbed you."

"Ruth, I'm sorry. Nothing you or Charlotte can say now is going to change my mind. I know who I'm voting for." Janine assured.

Ruth sighed. "As long as it isn't me." She mused.

Knowing that she wouldn't be getting a clear answer from Janine, Ruth walked away. As she did, Charlotte stood back, arms folded. She gave a slight smirk as she approached Janine at the fire pit.

"_It doesn't bother me that Janine won Immunity. Ruth didn't win and that's all that matters to me. I just have to convince Janine that voting out Ruth is the better option." Charlotte pointed out. "It shouldn't be hard, but then again, she still seems cross with me about earlier. I suppose I'd better make sure I have Janine's vote."_

After Ruth had left, Charlotte came over to Janine, smirking. "Good work on winning the challenge." She said. "Now we can finally get rid of Ruth."

"We? Don't you mean 'I'?" Janine asked. "I'm the only one voting."

"It's the same difference." Charlotte said. "Ruth's been a strategic threat for too long and now she's going to get it."

"Yes. She definitely is." Janine nodded.

"_I made up my mind as soon as I won Immunity. I know that both Charlotte and Ruth have been lobbying for me to vote the other out, but I've already made my decision." Janine assured. "Keep in mind that no matter who I vote for, I promise that it would have had nothing to do with anything either Charlotte or Ruth said to me."_

**(Tribal Council)**

Charlotte, Janine and Ruth walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Seeing that there was only three seats left, the final three walked over and sat down, Janine in the middle.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Roscoe, Mason, Jack, Oiler, Molly, Anita and Nelson, who was voted out at the previous Tribal Council."

Nelson followed the other jury members into the hut, wearing a bright, floral shirt that was opened to reveal a white shirt underneath, complete with a pair of shades and a fresh haircut. The seven jury members sat down on the jury bench.

"They're just here to observe the outcome. You are not to address them and they won't address you." SSBFreak said. "Janine, you won the final challenge of the game and have Immunity. How does it feel?"

"It feels amazing in itself knowing that I'll actually have a shot at the million after tonight." Janine said with a smile. "I've been battling through this game since the start, so having a peace of mind before the last day is a sigh of relief."

"I'm so proud of her." Oiler said with a smirk.

"Ruth, you helped vote out Nelson at the last Tribal Council." SSBFreak said. "Why is that?"

"I said it to him as he was leaving. I considered him the biggest threat left." Ruth explained. "I mean, he saw through Molly's façade and voted her out nearly by himself. I'm sure that would have gotten him some jury votes after that."

"I-I know I would have if R-Ruth wasn't there." Anita supplied.

"It was worth it." Nelson shrugged. Molly snarled at him.

"Charlotte, you have a one-in-two chance at going home tonight." SSBFreak said. "Do you think Janine will vote for Ruth or for you?"

"I certainly hope Janine votes for Ruth, but I know that she's the only one that can make that decision." Charlotte folded her arms. "We've all come this far into the game, so I suppose that's an accomplishment in itself. I know things are just going to heat up on that final day."

"She's got that right." Jack said with a smirk.

"Okay, normally, I'd say that this would be time to vote, but things are going a little differently tonight." SSBFreak said. "Janine has Immunity, which means Charlotte and Ruth's votes are automatically for each other, cancelling out. Because of this, Janine is the only one voting tonight. Charlotte and Ruth, I'll give you both a chance to tell Janine why she should take you to the finals, and I'll start with Charlotte."

Charlotte turned to Janine. "Janine, Ruth's a big strategic threat. We've been on the same tribe since the start and we both know that Ruth's been responsible for some of the most-surprising eliminations of the season." She explained. "I know you may be mad at me for betraying your trust, but you need to decide on which of us is the bigger threat in the end. If you ask me, I think that's Ruth."

"Ruth, would you continue?"

"I'm not going to deny that I was responsible for numerous eliminations, but Charlotte was responsible for just as many, if not more, than me." Ruth reminded. "She's been forming plans since we started, and I know her strategic gameplay will get her some jury votes from the others. I can't tell you how many, but I know she'll have some."

"Janine, does this change anything?" SSBFreak asked.

"No. I still know who I'm going to vote for, so those little speeches didn't change my initial plan." Janine assured.

"Okay. With that, it's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Janine, if you please?"

Janine nodded, stood up and left the hut. She approached the table and quickly wrote a name down. "Easiest decision ever." She said as she placed her ballot into the urn and left the table.

SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it shortly. "There is only one vote here, so whoever it's for will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said.

The host reached into the urn. "First and last vote, eighth and final member of the jury and sixteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

The jury waited in anticipation.

Charlotte and Ruth watched in agony, knowing that this was it.

Janine folded her arms.

"…Charlotte."

Charlotte's eyes snapped open and she took another look, wondering if she had just heard right. However, her name was indeed imprinted on the ballot.

"You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak explained.

When everything finally set in, Charlotte silently stood up and grabbed her torch. "So close. I can't believe this is how it ends." She said as she approached the host.

"Charlotte, Janine has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Charlotte's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"This shouldn't be happening." Charlotte shook her head as she left the hut.

Once Charlotte was gone, SSBFreak turned to the finalists. "And then there were two. Janine and Ruth, you've survived sixteen others and are the only ones to make it through all thirty-nine days. However, the game's not over yet." SSBFreak explained. "Tomorrow, I'll be bringing you both back here to stand before the jury and make a final plea. A winner will be decided tomorrow and it will be one of you. Your fate is now in the hands of the jury, so all I can say is that I hope you didn't get too many of them mad. I'll see you tomorrow for the final Tribal Council, but for now, you can both head back to camp."

Janine and Ruth stood up and left Tribal Council for the last time, knowing that the next time they'd go to Tribal Council, they wouldn't be going back this way. Even still, the only thing going through either of the two at this point were what they were going to say to the jury, especially since the jury was going to give one of them a million dollars.

"_I make it thirty-eight days and just shy of the final Tribal Council only to be eliminated by the person I thought was on my side." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess you can't win them all. I did as best as I could and I made the final three. That has to be pretty good for someone like me to do in a contest like this."_

**Voting History:**

**Charlotte – Janine**

Author's Note: Charlotte may have been playing a good game, but she hadn't counted on the sole thing behind her elimination being out of her control. I've liked writing for Charlotte, but going into this, she was always going to be the Final Three loser, so it's not like it affected her standing that much.


	17. Day 39

**(Yoma Nada Tribe)**

"_The last elimination happened and Janine voted out Charlotte. This surprises me, but at the same time, I'm relieved." Ruth said. "I was afraid Janine would vote against me for a moment there, but in the end, I'm still here and I actually have a chance at the prize."_

"I appreciate you keeping me back there, Janine." Ruth said.

"Well, I considered Charlotte a bigger threat." Janine shrugged. "I know her strategy would have gotten her some votes."

"You don't consider me a threat at all?" Ruth taunted.

"Not as much as Charlotte."

"_In taking Ruth to the end, I decided on a 'lesser-of-two-evils' approach, since they're both strategic threats." Janine said. "However, with Charlotte on the jury, I can pretty much guarantee a vote from her because I know she wouldn't vote for Ruth."_

"I can't believe that this is it." Ruth shook her head. "The final two."

"The only two people to last the whole time." Janine nodded. "We've both come a long way."

"_We only have one more sleep in this shelter and then it's time for the final Tribal Council. This is the moment everyone's been hoping to get to since the start." Ruth said. "And now I have a one-in-two chance at winning the whole thing. That has to be pretty good for someone as old as me."_

"_Me making it this far proves that even when you're a physical threat, it's still possible to go all the way." Janine said with a smirk. "I've come this far and managed to make it to the final Tribal Council while still being considered a physical threat. I know that Ruth and I will both have automatic votes, but I just need to convince three other people that I played a better game than her."_

"Well, I suggest we head to bed, because we're both going to be having one heck of a day ahead of us." Janine said.

"I know. We're going to have to face eight people with answers to questions we can't anticipate." Ruth nodded.

The final two went to bed for the last time, knowing that the following day would be crucial to both of them.

**(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 39)**

The camp was eerily quiet as the final two woke up. Janine and Ruth walked around camp, as if to reminisce about everything they've been through since the game started. Janine was walking down the beach by herself, looking around but mainly looking out at the ocean as she walked.

"Everything's so quiet around here." Janine said, forming a smirk. "Too bad I can't get used to this."

"_The camp was so peaceful today, mainly because all of the noisy people are gone. No more of Anita's screaming, no more of Jack and Mason being at each other's throats, and no more of Charlotte trying to talk strategy." Janine said. "In all honesty, I could really get used to a few more days of this, but I know that I have to focus on the final Tribal Council that Ruth and I will be going to."_

"Ruth's made some people mad. They may vote against her by giving me their vote." Janine mused to herself. "If I can get the others to see that, I can get their vote." Janine paused as she stood on the beach, looking out at the ocean. "I know I have votes from Oiler and Charlotte, so I just need three more."

Meanwhile, Ruth was out on the small island, sitting down on a rock and looked out at the ocean.

"I still can't believe that I made it all the way." Ruth shook her head. "And now all that's left is to pitch my gameplan to eight people."

"_Going into this final Tribal Council, I need to remember to stay on my toes and be ready for any question." Ruth said. "I know I have a vote from Anita and I'm pretty sure I still have Nelson's vote as well, so I just need to get three people to see that I played a better game than Janine."_

"I know Janine didn't play much of a strategic game for the most part, so I know that if people vote for her, it will mainly be against me." Ruth sighed. "I just hope that I can get on their good sides at Tribal Council."

Ruth left the island and walked over to the shelter, where she found Janine standing outside of, looking at it. "What are you thinking, Janine?" She asked.

"I'm thinking about just tearing this shelter down after having to live out here for a month." Janine suggested.

"I wouldn't. Just leave it up as a reminder that we managed to survive." Ruth said.

Janine paused, then shrugged. "Yeah. You have a point." She said. "You ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Ruth nodded. "Just remember that I don't intend on holding anything back during this."

"I know. That's why I'm going prepared." Janine nodded.

With that, the final two left the camp for the last time, leaving it untouched after a long competition of use.

"_I'm confident with my chances. The strategy isn't so much about who played the better game, but how many people are mad at Ruth's gameplay." Janine said. "I don't have the numbers yet, but if I can get them, then I'll have this in the bag. It's been a long, hard road, but I'm ready for this."_

"_I know I can win. There are eight people on the jury and I just need to get on the good side of five of them." Ruth explained. "After everything I've been through since we started, I feel like I can take out anything in order to win, and I have a feeling that's what I'm going to have to do here."_

**(Tribal Council)**

Janine and Ruth entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Seeing that there were only two seats now, the final two walked over and sat down to prepare for council to commence.

"First off, I'd like to congratulate you both for making it this far. In a moment, a vote will be cast that will declare you the sole survivor and winner of the million dollars. However, before we start, let's bring out the people that will be responsible for that vote, our completed jury." SSBFreak said. "Roscoe, Mason, Jack, Oiler, Molly, Anita, Nelson and Charlotte, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

The eight members of the jury entered the hut, Charlotte bringing up the rear. Her beret was gone, but she was now wearing a beige military outfit that made her look similar to Rolento. The jury members sat down on the bench to prepare.

"They will ask you both questions and vote for who they think is more-worthy of the prize, but before we start, I'd like you both to plead your case to the jury, describing your gameplan and why they should vote for you." SSBFreak said. "We'll go alphabetically, so Janine, would you start?"

Janine nodded. "I started the game with the plan to get to the merge without having my team rely on my strength too much. Whenever my team had a victory based on strength, I made sure the glory was shared, mainly as a way to take attention off myself." She explained. "When the merge hit, I knew I'd be a target, so I just stayed in the shadows as the alliances focused on each other, not that it was hard to do with the sheer hatred between a few of the people. I also tried to play an honest game. In fact, I think there were only a couple of times I made people mad with the outcome of a vote. Ruth was responsible for several eliminations, including two of our stronger players pre-merge. In closing, I think that my strategy has paid off, considering that I made the final two when I'm an immense physical threat."

"Ruth, care to follow up?" SSBFreak said.

Ruth nodded and started. "I didn't expect to be here for long at the start, but I was quickly thrown into several situations where I felt the need to get not only myself but those I befriended through. For the record, I had one of our stronger players voted out first because he was a miserable person and too cocky for his own good." The elderly player pointed out. "I'll admit that I was responsible for a few eliminations, but they were all for a reason, and not just to get ahead in the game. When I made the merge, I continued my strategy, even though I lost my alliance late in the game. After Anita left, I thought for sure I would be next, but I never gave up and managed to make it here. I know you all have to choose between the two of us, a physical threat and a physical liability, but all I ask is vote for whoever you think had a harder time making it this far."

"Two good cases by two good players, but you're not out of the hotseat yet. It's time for the jury to start asking their questions." SSBFreak said. "Oiler, would you start?"

The crash dummy nodded as he stood up and strode over to the two finalists. "Before I start, I just wanted to congratulate you both for making it to the end. That's a feat not a lot of people can accomplish." Oiler said before looking at Janine. "Okay. Janine, we've been working together since the start, but don't think you have my vote right away. I want to ask a question first."

"Go ahead." Janine said.

"How would you have played the game differently if you had to do it again?" Oiler asked.

"I really don't know. I mean, I made it to the end, but it was a bit of a chore in itself." Janine said. "I suppose I'd try not to be as trusting and avoid another potential upset."

"Good to see that you've finally found it out." Oiler replied. "Ruth, same question. What would you do differently?"

"Try to be a little more aware of what was happening around me." Ruth said. "Anita was eliminated because I let my guard down."

"Okay. I think I got what I needed." Oiler said as he returned to his seat. "I'm done."

"Roscoe, would you go next?" SSBFreak said.

Roscoe approached the finalists and smirked. "Hey, you two. I have to say that I'm surprised you both made it this far." He said. "So, in keeping with that, why don't you both tell me what the most-shocking moment was for you during the game? Janine?"

"Oiler getting eliminated by the person I had tried to gain the trust of." Janine said. "I was shocked, but it definitely opened my eyes to how to play my game from then on."

"Yeah. Jack and I agreed that was pretty messed up." Roscoe shrugged. "Ruth?"

"The first merge Tribal Council. I knew that there was conflict at camp, but I didn't expect things to be that bad." Ruth said. "I mean, almost all of us were one vote away from elimination."

"By the way, Anita told me that you and her were the ones that voted me out." Roscoe said with a smirk.

Ruth paused. "Well, we wanted to separate a strong alliance and we focused on you and Jack first." She replied. "I guess it was just the luck of the draw."

Roscoe appeared to be in thought, then shrugged as he turned around. "I'm done." He said as he returned to the bench.

"Nelson?"

The lanky nerd got up and approached the finalists. "So this is it, huh? It's hard to believe it's already been a month, eh?" He asked.

"It felt a lot longer." Janine said.

"Uh, just to clear things up with Ruth, I wanted to apologize for voting out Anita like that." Nelson said. "I just knew that she was the biggest jury vote out of everyone here."

"How so?" Ruth asked.

"Roscoe, Jack, Oiler and even Mason said that they would vote for Anita if she made it to the end over their alliances." Nelson explained. "Anyway, I just have one question, but it applies to you both. If there was someone that was voted out pre-merge that you could have had make the merge, who would it be?"

"Krash. No question about it." Ruth replied. "I felt bad voting him out for the longest time."

"Yeah. I think Krash had the most potential and we all liked him." Janine agreed. "He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That's all I wanted to know. Thanks." Nelson said as he went back to his seat. "Finished."

"Charlotte, you're up."

The German woman got up and stalked over, not looking very pleased. "Well, this isn't exactly how I envisioned the final Tribal Council to be." She said. "I was expecting to answer the questions instead of ask them. Now here I am, forced to choose between the old woman I've been at odds with since the start or the woman that was solely responsible for eliminating me."

"You sound bitter." Ruth said.

"Of course I'm bitter! I was literally one day away from the final day and was eliminated by someone I wasn't expecting to do it." Charlotte insisted. "Ruth, since you made it, I want you to tell me how you would have felt it what happened to me happened to you."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't be reacting the way you are." Ruth replied, lifting an eyebrow. "Sure, I'd be frustrated, but you're kind of taking it a little far here."

"You say that now. I bet you'd be worse than me." Charlotte folded her arms as she looked at Janine. "Janine, I thought we had a deal. You voted me out."

"You should have known it was coming, Charlotte. You betrayed me first." Janine shrugged. "You brought it on yourself."

"Okay, then. Humour me. Why would I vote for the person that eliminated me from the game?" Charlotte challenged.

Janine formed a smirk. "Because your only other option is Ruth." She replied.

Charlotte stood in silence for several seconds before narrowing her eyes. "You have a point." She said as she walked back. "I'm done."

"You're next, Mason."

The bearded man stood up and approached the final two. "I have to say that I'm impressed. I never would have thought that people like you two were capable of surviving a competition like this." Mason said.

"Mason, if you're going to start on one of your phony rants, then you may as well shut it." Jack called out. "You don't want Anita exploding on you a third time."

Ruth blinked. "A third time?" She asked.

Mason rubbed the back of his head. "She kinda went off again at the jury house." He said. "But anyway, to the questions. Ruth, there's something I've been wondering since you blindsided me, and that's why you voted me out."

"It should have been obvious, Mason. You set Anita off with your stories." Ruth said, eyes narrowed. "Anyone that makes a timid girl go off like that deserves elimination in my book."

"You could have gotten rid of someone else." Mason pointed out.

"We could only stand you for so long. Even though we Eleda players only knew you for a few days, we hated you." Ruth explained. "I can't understand why Opito kept you around for so long."

Mason rolled his eyes and turned to Janine. "Janine, I know it's obvious that we were both rivals because of our strength, but how do you think-" He started.

"Stop right there. For the record, I didn't consider you my rival." Janine said. "You Opito players eliminated my real rival on day 6. Urtha was ten times stronger than you could ever hope to be, and it showed due to your complete incompetence in almost every single challenge we had."

"Hey! I was a credit to my team!"

"Molly was also leading you along like a dog." Janine folded her arms. "She probably made up all of those stories pre-merge in order to get your vote. Mason, you fell for them all hook, line and sinker. Sorry, but you're not a strong or a smart player."

Mason paused, then turned around. "Okay. I think I'm finished." He said.

"Molly?"

Molly approached the two finalists, looking madder than Charlotte. "Let me just say right now that neither of you deserve the win and I really wish I could vote for someone else right now." She said. "I was supposed to be sitting there instead of you two right now. I'm supposed to be the winner."

"You would have been voted out either way as a jury threat." Ruth said. "You wouldn't have had a chance whether your secret had been exposed or not."

Molly folded her arms. "I tried playing nice, and it clearly didn't work. Just so you know, Ruth? I hate you for ruining my game. You aligned with that weasel and helped expose me and my secret." She continued. "I had everyone on my tribe working for me and I had everything planned out. I even prepared jury answers for when I made the finals. You took that chance away from me and I got stuck with sixth."

"You're a horrible person, Molly." Ruth replied. "You eliminated deserving people prematurely and mislead your entire tribe."

"Cry me a river, old woman." Molly rolled her eyes before switching targets. "Janine, you were the only one that voted with me constantly."

"Because I'd be outnumbered if I didn't." Janine said. "I felt safer, to be honest."

"Well, because you stuck with me, I can't fault you for ruining my game." Molly said. "So, because of that, this choice will be easy. You have my vote, Janine. I just hope that you can get four more from the others."

Molly turned and walked back to the bench without a word. Janine and Ruth both shook their heads.

"You're next, Jack."

The shade-less Jack stood up and approached the finalists with a smirk. "This sure has been a wide ride, eh? I've been surprised at the majority of the happenings this season and even more surprised at the way some things turned out." He explained. "Marty was asked this question last season and I think it helped him win, so I'll ask you guys the same question." He said. "What would you do with the money? Janine?"

"I'd probably use some of it to build a better defense system for my village." Janine said. "Either that or move my entire village somewhere else. Anything to get away from the perverted cavemen that abound where I live."

"A little problem with your past?"

"Those perverts dragged me off by my hair and left me as dinosaur food when they realized they had taken too many women!" Janine said.

"Okay. I ain't gonna press it any further since you apparently don't wanna bring it up." Jack said. "Ruth?"

"I don't know, really. I'd really like to rebuild some of the destroyed buildings in my village that were destroyed when Wilfre invaded." Ruth explained. "Then I would probably pay for increased defenses around Creation Hall. That place seems to be where all invasions target."

"They're both pretty good reasons, but I think you could do either of those with the money for second place as well." Jack said in thought before returning to his seat. "Finished, man."

"Anita, would you please wrap things up?"

Anita gave a timid smile and stood up, approaching the finalists. "T-This has been an experience, t-to say the least." She said. "E-Even though I finished f-fifth, I'm p-pleased I made it t-that far." She said as she looked at Ruth. "I…I have you to thank f-for that, Ruth. Y-You got rid of B-Buzz w-when he targeted me."

"He deserved it, dear." Ruth assured. "I just felt that I needed to get you through the game to help you overcome your hindrances."

"I-I think it worked a bit." Anita nodded. "I c-can't thank you enough."

"I'm just sorry I couldn't help you all the way."

"I-It's fine." Anita assured as she looked at Janine. "Janine, I-I really admired your s-strength and d-determination. If y-you didn't t-target me, I w-would have l-looked up to you more."

"Sorry, kid. You were the biggest liability to the team pre-merge and a massive jury threat post-merge." Janine shrugged.

"I k-know. T-That's something I c-can't ignore." Anita said. "H-However, I a-also can't ignore the fact that y-you got t-through everything w-while being a physical threat and I l-liked having y-you on the team. Y-You won't g-get my vote t-tonight, but I w-want to say that it's b-been a f-fun competition."

"Yes, Anita. It certainly has." Janine nodded.

"F-Finished." Anita said contently as she returned to her seat.

Once Anita was seated again, SSBFreak spoke up. "Shortly, all eight of these jury members will be voting for who they deem most-worthy of the million dollar prize and the title of Sole Survivor. Janine and Ruth, I hope that you answered questions and plead your cases good, because there's no turning back now. It's time to vote." He said. "Roscoe, you're up."

Roscoe stood up and left the hut to approach the voting table. "I can see them both winning, but I know who's getting my vote." He said as he wrote a name down.

Mason approached the table, still undecided. "This would be so much easier if they actually gave me answers that made me feel good." He admitted as he scribbled a name down.

Jack confidently walked up to the table and quickly wrote a name down. "Not even a hard choice." He said with a smirk and placed the ballot into the urn.

Oiler wrote a name down and turned his ballot around, showing Janine's name. "I hope you win, Janine. You made it this far." He said as he placed the ballot into the jar.

Molly looked mad as she wrote a name down. "I can't believe I'm voting for one of those two. This is so wrong." She said as she voted and left the table in a huff.

Anita scribbled a name down and showed her vote to the camera. "Y-You should k-know I wouldn't v-vote for anyone but you." She said, having voted for Ruth.

Nelson hummed a tune as he walked up to the table and wrote a name down. "I wish I could say this was a hard choice." He said as he voted and left to return to the hut.

Charlotte was the last one to vote. The German woman walked up to the table. "What can I say? She gave me a good reason." She said as she voted and walked away.

After the jury had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it momentarily. "The jury has spoken and has voted for one of you to be the winner." He explained. "I know that you're all anxious to see who the winner is, but I must force you all to wait until the reunion."

"We can't wait that long!" Janine said.

"I know. It's just something you'll have to do." SSBFreak shrugged. "I'll see you all in four months at the reunion, where the winner will be announced. But until then..." SSBfreak reached for a rope hanging nearby. "…Farewell!"

With that, SSBfreak yanked the rope down, opening a trap-door underneath his feet. SSBFreak, urn and all, went straight down the newly-opened hole and vanished from sight. Needless to say, this left the finalists in shock.

"Did he seriously just drop himself through a trap-door?" Ruth asked as the trap-door closed up by itself.

"That's actually pretty normal compared to last season." Janine shrugged nonchalantly.

**(Reunion)**

The final Tribal Council had just finished playing on a TV screen, revealing SSBFreak standing on a stage in front of a large, cheering audience. The final two were sitting down on a couple of seats on stage while the eight jury members sat aside on a modified jury bench. The audience was cheering wildly as the previous scene ended.

Janine was wearing a different fur outfit than her island getup, but this new clothing was blue with white spots as opposed to white with red spots, in addition to being a one-piece instead of a top and bottom. Janine's hair had grown slightly longer, but not by much.

Ruth was wearing a black, opened vest over a blue blouse and had a floor-length, floral dress on. Ruth was also wearing a red bandana in her brown hair and was sporting a large pair of glasses, something she had been without for the entire competition.

"Welcome to the reunion and finale of Survivor: Central Hub 2." SSBFreak said to the audience. "With me is the final two, Janine and Ruth, as well as the eight members of the jury. They're all here to await the results that will declare one of them the winner of the competition." He turned to the final two to ask a few last questions. "Janine, was anyone back home surprised to find out you made the final two?"

"I think that's an understatement. They were all thinking I'd be gone around the merge, just like me." Janine admitted. "I think I surprised just about everyone by making it as far as I did."

"Ruth, did you expect to make it this far?"

"Not in the slightest. I thought for sure I'd be targeted early because of my age." Ruth said with a smile. "As it turns out, I'm still a little crafty and capable of a few tricks."

"Janine, looking back, do you regret anything you did during the game?"

Janine paused. "No. I think I made the right choices when I did." She admitted. "Besides, if I made the wrong choices to begin with, I probably wouldn't even be here at all."

"Ruth, do you feel you could go through another experience like this again?"

"It was definitely a fun experience, but I don't know if I would or not." Ruth scratched her head. "It would be interesting to try again, but it just depends on if I feel up to it."

"Both of you, how do you think your chances are at winning?"

"I don't have an idea." Janine shrugged. "It depends on how the jury was feeling when they voted."

"I agree. It could be either one of us." Ruth nodded.

"Well, I think we've put it off long enough." SSBFreak said as he grabbed the urn. "Remember that you want to see your name this time, because the person with the most votes will be the winner and be declared Sole Survivor. At long last, it's time to read the votes…"

"Good luck." Janine said with a smirk.

"Thanks, dear. You too." Ruth responded.

"…First vote, Ruth." "I know who did that." Ruth said with a smile.

"Janine. We're tied at one each." "Thanks, Oiler." Janine said.

"Janine." Janine bit her lip.

"Ruth. We're tied again." Ruth and Janine looked at each other.

"Ruth." Ruth took a deep breath.

"Janine." The jury looked interested on who was going to win.

"Ruth." Ruth was sweating nervously, knowing that it was going to be close. "Final vote, Sole Survivor and winner of Survivor: Central Hub 2…"

The finalists sat nervously, waiting for the vote to be read.

"…RUTH!" SSBFreak announced

Ruth's eyes widened in shock. "I…I won!" She said in disbelief. "I don't believe it!!"

"You did it, Ruth!" Janine said. "Congratulations!"

Ruth quickly left her seat and went down into the audience, where her friends and the rest of the villagers were. They all cheered in victory at the turn of events. After celebrating for several seconds, Ruth climbed back onto the stage. The audience had long since erupted with cheers for the elderly Raposa.

"YES!! She did it!!" Anita cheered, clearly happy.

"I think she deserved it in the end." Jack nodded, content with the results.

"I'm surprised she pulled it off." Oiler admitted.

"You voted for the wrong person, idiots." Molly growled under her breath.

"Members of the jury, why don't you go over and congratulate the winner?" SSBFreak said.

The eight jury members got up and went across the stage, gathering around Ruth and Janine, congratulating them both.

"In fact, why don't we make this a full reunion and bring out the others?" SSBFreak asked as Buzz, Urtha, Lynn, Vikki, Shamus, Brick, Ginny and Krash walked onto the stage. Lynn and Krash looked extremely-happy at the results, while Buzz looked ticked-off.

"Sweet job, Ruth!" Lynn cheered.

"I can't believe an older player managed to win like that." Urtha admitted.

"Why her? Ugh." Buzz rolled his eyes.

As Ruth was getting swarmed with congratulations from nearly everyone and Janine was getting praised for coming in second, SSBFreak looked at a camera. "And thus, the curtain draws to a close on the second season of Survivor: Central Hub. In a sea of heroes, villains and enough backstabbing and blindsides to make any spy jealous, an unexpected winner has emerged." He said. "She was the oldest of the entire cast, but she didn't let it slow her down and she continually surprised us all to outlast seventeen other players to become the Sole Survivor."

SSBFreak stepped away from the festivities and smirked. "Is there a third season coming up? Only time will tell." He explained. "For now, I say goodbye to you all and thank you for watching a successful season of Survivor: Central Hub!"

**Voting Results:**

**Ruth – Anita, Jack, Mason, Nelson and Roscoe**

**Janine – Charlotte, Molly and Oiler**

Author's Note: The second season of Survivor: Central Hub has come to a close and the winner, Ruth, has been declared. I really like doing these Survivor stories and I hope I can do more of these. Anyway, let's get to some of the results...

**Ruth, the Winner...**

Coming into this, I wanted the winner to be a contrast to Marty, the previous season's winner. When I contemplated a Drawn to Life fancharacter being an older woman, everything clicked for me. I really liked writing for Ruth and enjoyed having her win in the end. Ruth proved to be the opposite of Marty in almost every way, not counting the obvious fact that she's an older woman compared to Marty being a young male.

- Marty was positive the majority of Season 1. Ruth had several negative moments.  
- Marty relied on the plans of others. Ruth formed her own plans.  
- Marty was the third wheel of his alliance and switched when his allies got eliminated. Ruth was the leader of her alliance and went the whole way through that way.  
- Although both Marty and Ruth were targeted for being weak, Ruth was able to face her attackers while Marty had to rely on outside help to get him through.

Here's an interesting note. Marty existed before I started writing Season 1 and he ended up winning. Ruth, on the other hand, is the only member of the final five I created specifically for the story. Other than Janine, Charlotte, Nelson and Anita, the only characters that existed pre-story were Jack and Roscoe.

**Janine, the Runner-Up...**  
Janine was interesting to write for. She didn't have a lot of complexity pre-merge (although she tried to keep attention off herself to keep her tribe from relying on her), but her story really took off when Oiler got eliminated. It took a lot longer than I had hoped for, but Janine finally emerged as a character. She was always going to be the runner up because I wanted a physical threat to make it to the end, losing to a mental threat. When I looked at all of the strong characters I had this season, it was a no-brainer for me that I would have Janine make it to the end.

However, I think that Janine's biggest mistake was letting her emotions get the better of her and taking Ruth to the end. If Janine took Charlotte to the finals, she would have won. In addition to the lock vote from Oiler, she would have had votes from Ruth, Nelson and Anita, in addition to a probable Mason. Jack and Roscoe would be the only question marks, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Season 3 is currently in the works. Stay tuned for an application for Season 4 to be put up. Hopefully, it won't take too long…


	18. SCH4 Application Form

**Survivor: Central Hub 4 Application Form**

Survivor: Central Hub 3 is currently in development, and now that it's a couple of episodes in, I figured I should prepare for the season after that, where I'll be using fan characters from other people. Keep in mind that the season is still a ways off, but I figured that it would be best to put this form up now so people could get their entries in.

Here are a few things you need to consider when applying:

_One – I'll only be using one franchise per character, so if I receive multiple characters from Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, remember that only one, if any, will make the cut._

_Two – You can audition multiple times if you want, but remember that only one of your characters, if any, will make it into the season._

_Three – Don't be upset if your fan character doesn't perform as well as you'd like. Only one person can win and there will indeed be people voted out pre-merge._

_Four – You can audition with any franchise you want, even those that I have already included in past seasons. A repeat franchise won't affect your chances of getting in._

Here's an example form, filled out with Barney, a character I auditioned for Survivor Fan Characters with (and a competitor from Central Hub 1). Keep in mind that this is probably the minimum I will accept.

**Name:** Barney

**Franchise:** Suikoden (although the actual game Barney represents is Suikoden 3)

**Description:** Either give me a good description of your character or provide me a link to a picture. Either one is fine.

**Occupation:** Barney works at the storeroom at Budehuc Castle, giving him a workout in upper-body strength.

**Personality:** Barney is generally a nice guy, but no one should cross his path when he's angry. The things that make Barney the angriest are people that treat weaker people like dirt, but he will more often than not try to comfort the abused person instead of going after the person responsible. However, if this person continues to abuse the same weaker player, Barney will eventually snap and give an equally-verbal response to the alleged jerk.

**Strengths:** Barney is a heavy lifter where he comes from, and has great upper body strength. He's able to carry twice as much as a normal person.

**Weaknesses:** Barney is a poor runner and an even worse swimmer.

**Who would your character align with?:** Barney would align with almost anyone, especially the people that get verbally abused due to having sympathy for them.

**Who would they avoid at all costs?:** Snobs, brats and jerks. Barney hates that type of attitude.

**What type of game would your character play?:** In order to keep attention off himself, Barney prefers to take orders rather than give them. However, if it comes to the point where the rest of the people in his alliance are worse leaders than him, he'd take charge.

**The following questions are for if your fan character makes it to the guest episode involving canon characters as well as some general personality:**

**Who is the main character of the franchise?:** Since the main characters for each Suikoden change with each game, the lead character of Suikoden 3 is Hugo.

**Does your character have any friends?:** Reed and Samus. Barney admires them for putting up with their employer, Lilly.

**Does your character have any enemies?:** Lilly Pendragon. Barney once got so angered by her selfish attitude he nearly strangled her (and he would have if Reed and Samus not held him back).

**How does your character feel about someone particularly popular?:** Barney doesn't get why the Karayans are so forgiving of Chris Lightfellow. After all, she burned down their village and was solely responsible for the death of the main character's best friend.

**How about someone unpopular?:** Barney doesn't trust Guillaume as much as the next guy, but he knows there's probably a pretty good reason why he acts the way he does. He figures Guillaume had a pretty messed-up past and gives him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

To enter, fill out this form, replacing everything I filled in, and send it to me in a PM or Note. Make sure you DON'T apply in a review or comment. It HAS to be through a Note.

Be sure to tell other people about this! I'm hoping that Season 4 will be a 20-person season, after all. I look forward to seeing you audition!


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